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Driver faces court date, fines and six months in jail

BY PAT SUMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Just a puppy, you think life is great. You live in a nice house in a pretty area, and so much is new and interesting and fun.

One day when you notice an open door, you decide on the spot to go visit the neighbors. Next thing you know, your life has changed: you hurt all over and you're not sure what happened to you — or what will happen next.

You remember that a person you know came up to you next door and hooked you up to your leash. Then, before you knew it, you were running next to her moving car. Everything went fast, it was very noisy and soon you couldn't run anymore.

Then, you hurt. A lot.

Now you're in a place where you can hear other animals nearby. When you try to walk, you limp and your shoulder hurts. People give you medicine and you're wearing a strange cone-shaped collar that keeps you from licking all the places on your legs that feel burny and bad.

***

Eight-month old Marlin, a male Australian cattle dog belonging to Bryan Vaughan, 28, is expected to "make a full recovery," Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief law enforcement officer for the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said on Friday evening.

Now a patient at the Monmouth County SPCA in Eatontown, receiving antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, Marlin was first treated at Red Bank Animal Hospital.

Amato's hopeful prognosis follows Marlin's involuntary run on Thursday outside the VW 4 x 4 driven by Stephanie Sciscione, 31, reportedly Vaughan's girlfriend. She had caught up with Marlin, who was loose outside in Middletown, to take him home.

But his paws were muddy. So instead of putting him in the car, she allegedly hooked him up outside the driver's side-window and started driving.

As Chief Amato tells it, 5 p.m. was a trafficky time of day. People coming home from work saw the dog being pulled and dragged — close to oncoming traffic part of the way — and called the police. They in turn alerted Amato.

Probably aware of other drivers yelling at her, Sciscione hurriedly pulled off the main road into Vaughan's long driveway, leaving a blood trail Amato found soon after.

Resulting from Marlin's inhumane homecoming, the hocks on his hind legs were scuffed raw and bloody, the backs of his front legs were peeled back and his paw pads were severely scraped, causing him to walk as if on hot coals. He suffered soft tissue damage in his right front shoulder. (Not understanding — or liking — what was happening to him, "the dog probably put on the brakes," Amato says.)

Sciscione was charged with two criminal counts of animal abuse and she faces fines of $2,000; She also could be "exposed to six months in jail," says Amato. She must appear in court Monday, Sept. 13.

Meanwhile, aware that "he didn't do anything wrong," Amato must decide whether Vaughan will get Marlin back once he's better. And if so, should Sciscione be barred from contact with the dog?

Does Marlin get a vote?

Freelance writer Pat Summers also blogs at AnimalBeat.blogspot.com.