With options exhausted, ‘vicious’ bull dog Tank gets death penalty

VERNON — An eight-month effort to save the life of a dog that bit a man last year and brought in thousands of dollars from online donations will likely end with the dog being killed after all.

At a hearing on Tuesday, the judge ordered 3-year-old Tank to be put down after his owners said they were unable to meet the criteria set by the court in January to have him returned to his family. Tank had been taken by animal control last September when he bit a man trying to put a collar on him.

After the animal control officer had initially declared him to be a vicious dog, a compromise was reached to have him deemed "potentially dangerous." The judge also said that for Deborah Schwadtke to get Tank back she would have to take out a $1 million insurance policy, have the dog trained, and build an enclosed kennel that the dog could not escape from.

At Tuesday's hearing, Schwadtke said she had not met the requirements on the shelter, despite the efforts of volunteers to help, according to a story in the New Jersey Herald. More than a dozen people gave their time and money to help Tank, and were left out in the cold wondering if the owners had wanted their help or to save the dog.

Municipal Prosecutor Alicia Ferrante told the judge at Tuesday's hearing that the local animal control officer had attempted to find other organizations that might take Tank.

Before the judge issued his ruling Schwadtke asked if her family could have a chance to visit the dog before he is put down, which the animal control officer agreed to, the Herald reported. Schwadtke will be responsible for making the arrangements for Tank to be put down, and the judge also lowered the amount of money she owed for having the dog kept at the shelter from $1,600 to $1,000, the Herald reported.

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