WILDLIFE IN THE NEWS ..........

Mom: Killing raccoons was right
Friday, September 15, 2006
By BARBARA WILLIAMS - STAFF WRITER
WEST MILFORD, NJ – The moral of the story: Don't try to domesticate wildlife and certainly don't use them to pay off a debt. Two township residents pleaded guilty in Municipal Court on Thursday to animal cruelty charges, but a Pequannock woman still insists that she go to trial in the death of two young raccoons.

The animals were killed this year so their brains could be tested for rabies after the woman and her five children had petted them.

"I'm not pleading guilty; I didn't do anything wrong," Dawn Lobosco said after she refused a plea offer that would have resulted in several hundred dollars in fines. "It's not the money, it's the principle." A new court date has not been scheduled.

Lobosco's brother, David Fiornia, and his neighbor, John Allegretti, took the plea deal and each paid $799 in fines and court fees. They had initially handled the raccoons, leading to the events in which Lobosco's family was exposed to the wild animals. Both had been charged by the state Division of Fish & Wildlife and cited by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

It's illegal to possess, buy or sell wildlife. "I'm just glad it's over," Allegretti said after the court proceeding. In April, Allegretti had found five young raccoons and their mother as he uncovered a boat in his yard; after the mother ran off, he decided to keep two of the youngsters. He said he thought the mother had abandoned them and so he would raise them until they were old enough to release them into the wild.

But days later, he gave them to Fiornia as settlement of a $100 debt he owed him, according to court documents. Fiornia was so excited about the raccoons that he took them to Lobosco's house to show her and his nieces and nephews.

But possessing, buying and selling wildlife is illegal. Lobosco said during her son's routine physical exam the next day the pediatrician explained that because the raccoons were licking her hand and rabies is passed through saliva, they may all have been exposed and they should seek medical attention.

A trip to Chilton Memorial Hospital that night led to a series of phone calls among doctors, veterinarians and state animal experts, Lobosco said. She said there was specific concern because she had a cut on her hand that had bled within the last 24 hours, making her more susceptible.

The result: The raccoons had to be euthanized and their remains tested for the rabies virus rather than automatically put the entire family through rabies' shots that may have significant side effects. So Lobosco paid a local veterinarian $200 to kill and test the raccoons. Days later, Lobosco learned the animals did not have rabies.

A month later, Lobosco received an SPCA summons for cruelty to animals -- having had them put to death. Fiornia and Allegretti also were cited and in addition were charged by the state with possession and buying and selling wildlife. If found guilty, Lobosco faces up to $1,000 in fines and 180 days in the county jail.

"I've paid over $1,200 in hospital and vet fees -- I think I've paid enough," Lobosco said. "I was told to do this and now they are coming after me." SPCA agent Dee Garbowski doesn't see it that way. The animal rehabilitator said she could have quarantined the animals and watched for any sign that they might have the disease. She said the animals were put to death needlessly.

"They didn't have to die," Garbowski said. "If they were infected, they would have shown signs. She overreacted."