Animal Attacks New Jersey

A dog sentenced to die after it injured a child won a pardon Friday from Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, but can never return to New Jersey. Whitman decreed that Taro, a 110-pound Akita, be exiled from the state and have new owners. The dog's present owners, Lonnie and Sandy Lehrer of Haworth, N.J., have 30 days to agree to the terms. "I am delighted that we have saved Taro's life," Lonnie Lehrer said in a statement released by the Animal Rights Law Center of the Rutgers Law School.

A 110-pound Akita's three years on Doggie Death Row in Bergen County, N.J., ended with the pooch's permanent exile. Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's staff and lawyers for the dog's owners signed documents that spelled out conditions of the dog's release. Taro, owned by Lonnie and Sandy Lehrer, had been in a county pen since 1991 for injuring the Lehrers' 10-year-old niece. Officials in their town, Haworth, wanted the dog killed under New Jersey's vicious dog law, claiming it had bit the girl's lip.

A 110-pound Akita's three years on Doggie Death Row in Bergen County, N.J., ended with the pooch's permanent exile. Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's staff and lawyers for the dog's owners signed documents that spelled out conditions of the dog's release. Taro, owned by Lonnie and Sandy Lehrer, had been in a county pen since 1991 for injuring the Lehrers' 10-year-old niece. Officials in their town, Haworth, wanted the dog killed under New Jersey's vicious dog law, claiming it had bit the girl's lip.

A dog sentenced to die after it injured a child won a pardon Friday from Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, but can never return to New Jersey. Whitman decreed that Taro, a 110-pound Akita, be exiled from the state and have new owners. The dog's present owners, Lonnie and Sandy Lehrer of Haworth, N.J., have 30 days to agree to the terms. "I am delighted that we have saved Taro's life," Lonnie Lehrer said in a statement released by the Animal Rights Law Center of the Rutgers Law School.

Growls of protest have been raised worldwide over the case of the "Death Row Dog," and now Brigitte Bardot has asked Gov. James J. Florio to intercede. "It seems to me that the one condemned to death, after 2 1/2 years of incarceration, is someone who has paid his debt to society," the French animal rights activist and former actress wrote. Bardot faxed the letter to the governor, Florio spokesman Dave Schratweiser said Saturday.

Growls of protest have been raised worldwide over the case of the "Death Row Dog," and now Brigitte Bardot has asked Gov. James J. Florio to intercede. "It seems to me that the one condemned to death, after 2 1/2 years of incarceration, is someone who has paid his debt to society," the French animal rights activist and former actress wrote. Bardot faxed the letter to the governor, Florio spokesman Dave Schratweiser said Saturday.