Dog owners plan to sue for defamation

TRENTON, N.J., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The owners of Congo the German shepherd said they plan to sue Princeton Township, N.J., and animal control Officer Mark Johnson for defamation.

Congo has been sentenced to death by a Municipal Court judge for mauling a landscaper, but Guy and Elizabeth James, who claim the landscaper hit the dog with a rake, are threatening to sue over statements published in a Trenton (N.J.) newspaper.

Johnson was quoted as saying that the James family "may have intentionally wounded one of the pups to make it look in worse shape than it was," The Trenton Times reported Monday.

But, Johnson denies making the alleged statement, stating that he merely said the injury had not been there when he examined the dogs 15 minutes after the incident.

The landscaper, who suffered bites and scratches over his body in the June 5 incident, was given an insurance settlement of $250,000.

The James' lawyer, Robert Lytle, also filed a motion asking Municipal Court Judge Russell Annich Jr. to release Congo into Guy James' custody.