Union County Prosecutor Charges Man And Woman With Animal Cruelty

ROSELLE, NJ — A Roselle man and a woman are facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly leaving their dog tied to a backyard fence after they moved to Georgia, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Roselle Police Chief Brian Barnes jointly announced in a press release Thursday.

Curtis Swan, 27, and Aaleyah Clay, 29, of Sandy Springs, Ga., are both charged with third-degree causing serious bodily injury to a domesticated animal via neglect, as well as abandonment of a domesticated animal, a disorderly persons offense.

The prosecutor's office said in a release that on Nov. 20, an Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey animal control officer was dispatched to a home on White Street in Roselle regarding a welfare check for a possibly abandoned dog in need of medical attention.

The office said that according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Patricia Cronin — who is the Prosecutor’s Office’s designated animal cruelty liaison — the officer learned that the dog, a young male Husky, had a "severe, infected open wound encircling a large portion of his neck, a product of being tied to the backyard fence."

The animal control officer reported the matter to the Roselle Police Department.

According to the press release, an investigation led by Roselle Detective Ivan Romero revealed that the dog’s owners, Swan and Clay, had moved to their new home in Georgia five days earlier, on Nov. 15, telling a neighbor that they would eventually return for the dog.

The dog was taken to the Newark branch of Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey for medical treatment, after which he was transferred to an affiliated shelter in South Jersey for further recovery, the prosecutor's office said.

(Update: The Associated Humane Societies Popcorn Park Shelter posted on Thursday that the dog is doing well. "He receives daily laser therapy treatments on his neck wound and is also on medications for pain and infection," they wrote on Facebook. "He is recovering nicely and is a sweet, happy, friendly dog." See here for more.)

Convictions on third-degree crimes can result in terms of 3 to 5 years in state prison.

These criminal charges are accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

To review an informational sheet on animal cruelty and how to report suspected instances of it, go online to https://ucnj.org/prosecutor/animal-cruelty/.

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