A history of attacks

By ROBERT LINNEHAN

On Friday, April 29, Dr. Robert Taffet euthanized one of his Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Duke, after it allegedly bit a juvenile girl at his home on April 19. This marked the latest incident the Taffets have been embroiled in involving their prized dogs, which have attacked several residents in Haddonfield and Salem County since 2002.

Haddonfield Police Chief John Banning confirmed the April 19 incident and said an officer was dispatched to witness Duke being put down.

Duke and Rocky, a separate Rhodesian Ridgeback owned by Taffet, have been involved in several incidents within Haddonfield. There were several well-known incidents involving the two dogs dating back to 2001. All of these incidents were transcribed in a March 2010 court case, the State versus Robert Taffet, which was heard by the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division.

One of the first incidents involving the dogs occurred sometime in either 2001 or 2003 and involved a child who was bitten on the ear by Rocky while he was hugging the dog at a T-ball game in Haddonfield.

At the time, court documents said that Taffet said that the victim only “sustained a superficial bite,” and was not sure which dog, Rocky or Pluto, both of whom had been on a leash, had bit him. The court documents showed that Taffet had asked the parents of the child to stop hugging the dogs.

Perhaps the most well known incident that brought the dogs to the attention of neighbors and residents in the borough occurred in October of 2002. According to court documents, Michael Harkins, a borough resident, was walking his golden retriever at Crows Woods at dusk, while Taffet had two of his dogs, Rocky and Pluto, at the woods at the same time.

Harkins noticed that the two Rhodesian Ridgebacks had pinned his dog to the ground. Harkins attempted to pull the Ridgebacks off his dog and in doing so, Rocky bit Harkins on one arm and the other dog, Pluto, who has since died, bit his other arm.

Taffet had to kick one of the Ridgebacks away to separate them from Harkins and his dog. Harkins sustained bodily injury requiring 20 stitches in one arm and 10 stitches in the other, which resulted in permanent scarring.

Another incident, in November 2004, involved a 14-year old girl, who was bitten by Rocky when she was petting him while kneeling in her friend’s bedroom.

Two incidents also occurred in the Taffet home. One involved a juvenile male who was at the Taffet home for a sleepover. While the male was running and playing with one of the Taffet children, Rocky, who was then only 4 months old, scraped the male’s right arm and left buttock. Court documents show that the victim was taken to the pediatrician by his mother and due to the incident, county authorities required defendant to take Rocky to the veterinarian where he was quarantined for three days.

Taffet’s son was scraped when both he and Rocky went after food the boy dropped on the floor soon after the incident in November 2004.

Finally, on Nov. 18, 2009, Duke was involved in a gruesome incident in Alloway Township in Salem County. The dog bit a 3-year-old girl’s ear off while being housed at Taffets farm in Alloway Township. A judge decreed that the animal was not vicious and had “nipped” the ear of the girl, thus declaring that it did not have to be destroyed.

Duke, Pluto, and Rocky are all of the same lineage. Rocky is Pluto’s son and Duke is Rocky’s son.

It led up to this latest attack on a juvenile on April 19. Borough Solicitor Mario Iavicoli said there is no next step at this point for the borough in regard to the remaining animals Taffet has on his property.

“I don’t know what is ultimately going to happen with the whole scenario. It’s troubling when you see that Rocky attacks five people, Pluto attacked Harkins, and Duke attacks two people. When is enough, enough?” he said.

Iavicoli did say that Taffet should be complimented for taking voluntary action and having the dog euthanized.