Tougher Laws Needed After Man Leaves Caged Dog In River: Lawmaker

HIGHLANDS, NJ — The man who locked an 8-month-old pit bull puppy in a wire cage and left the dog to drown in the Shrewsbury River last summer has been found guilty of animal cruelty, a fourth-degree crime that could bring with it no jail time.

Last Thursday, after a three-day trial, a jury found Aaron Davis, 36, of Long Branch, guilty of animal cruelty. It's a charge that brings with it up to 18 months in prison, but he could also simply be fined and made to do community service. Davis already served six weeks in the Monmouth County jail when he was first arrested.

Davis was not found guilty of trying to kill the animal, which has angered a local Monmouth County state senator. New Jersey state Senator Declan O’Scanlon, who represents this part of Monmouth County (the incident occurred in Highlands), is now calling for tougher animal abuse laws in the state of New Jersey and introduced a new criminal charge: aggravated animal abuse, which would bring with it automatic jail time.

“He could serve up to 18 months but that's not likely ... Something clearly needs to change when a person can leave a dog trapped in a cage to be drowned by the rising tide, but not be convicted of attempting to kill that animal,” said Sen. O'Scanlon on Monday. "It is simply barbaric."

As Patch reported at the time, prosecutors say that on July 30, 2018 Davis locked the puppy in a small wire cage and left that cage on the rocky banks of the Shrewsbury River in Highlands, where it empties out into Sandy Hook Bay.

Police say Davis placed the caged animal on the rocks sometime between 4 and 6 a.m. that day. They say he stole the dog following a domestic dispute with his girlfriend earlier that morning.

The river in that area is tidal, and the tide would have risen in a matter of hours, drowning the puppy had it not been rescued by a passerby.

A local Highlands nurse, Jennifer Vaz, 32, was out walking her dog at 6:15 a.m. that day, when she heard "whimpering" coming from the river's edge.

It was actually her Boxer, Molly, who first heard and found the pup.

"We were on Bay Avenue at Veterans' Memorial Park, when Molly started to pull me in an unusual direction towards the water," Vaz said, when Patch interviewed her at the time. "As we went closer to the water, I was just enjoying the sunrise when all of a sudden I heard a whimper. I looked down and all I could see were these eyes looking up at me. I can still see them in my head."

"His eyes just seemed to ask, 'Why? Why is this happening to me? What is going on?' He was shivering and the water was rising," she recalled.

In another few hours, by 9 a.m. the cage would haven been completely submerged by water, said the prosecutor.

"It would have been a slow death," said Vaz. "I immediately ran down there and the puppy was too scared to even come out of the cage. I had to send Molly in there, and she gave him a lick and it was only then that he cautiously came out. He wasn't barking. I could barely even hear his whimper and I think that's the only reason Molly saved him. I never would have heard him."

“If it were not for the passerby’s actions, the dog would have likely drowned due to the rising tides,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni said last Thursday.

The dog was nicknamed "River." Highlands police captured video footage of the puppy, which they say helped lead to Davis' arrest a few days later.

Incident prompts Monmouth County state senator to introduce strict new animal abuse law

In February of this year, O'Scanlon introduced "River's Law. " The legislation establishes a second-degree crime of aggravated animal abuse, which would bring with it automatic jail time.

“While I’m glad he was found guilty of fourth-degree animal cruelty at the very least, we need to do more. What happened to River and the outcome of this case highlights that action must be taken," said O'Scanlon, R, NJ-13.

“There are further changes that need to be made to help clarify existing statutes so that we don’t have this sort of legal confusion surrounding the ‘attempt to kill,’” he continued. “Even though it's clear to many of us what this attempt was, it seems it’s not as clear on the legal end. We are going to work with the SPCA to reintroduce a new version of River’s Law to deal with the issues that came out of River’s case. I hope that my legislative colleagues will join me in the effort.”

River has since been adopted. Vaz initially tried to take him in, but he and Molly were not getting along, as she is an older female and he was a frisky, high-energy male pup, she told Patch at the time. The Monmouth County SPCA took over his care, had him neutered and he was adopted by a local New Jersey family.

Davis' sentencing will be decided on Feb. 14, 2020 before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Marc LeMieux.

Initial Patch report: Dog In A Cage Trapped On Beach As Tide Rose In Highlands

Highlands Woman Recalls Finding Puppy Left In Cage To Die

Highlands Dog Left To Drown In Cage Has A New Home