Honduran Landscaper Is Mauled By Dog In Princeton, NJ. Town Says Dogs Are OMG So Cute! But Hondurans? Not So Much.
A Honduran landscaper was viciously mauled by a German Shepherd in Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton residents, however, agree a dog that would shred a person up like some ropa vieja is worth a little more than some brown dude. After all, how many Hondurexicans have you seen featured on Cute Overload?:
Protesters have packed the courtrooms here and have staged rallies waving signs that say “Free Congo!” And the landscaper, Giovanni Rivera, who suffered a six-inch bite wound and other injuries, has been vilified by some of the dog’s supporters in this well-to-do Ivy League town, who have been sending newspapers and blogs angry anti-immigrant slurs.
“The dog deserves an award,” said one posting to The Princeton Packet Web site. “One less Mexican alien is a boost to society.”
While Rivera is left kind of resembling Edward Scissorhands’ prom date the morning after, Congo’s owners are worried for their pooch’s health:
The next day an animal control officer took Congo and four other dogs (Magnus was in the woods at the time of the incident and was left home) to an animal shelter, where Congo stayed until he was released pending the appeal. He was sent home two weeks ago after five months in lockup.
The James family argued that while in the shelter, Congo’s health was deteriorating and he was losing weight, even though Mrs. James faithfully brought him his favorite raw beef patties and chicken chewies.
“It’s horrendous what we’ve had to deal with,” Mr. James said as Congo bounded around their kitchen on Saturday, clenching a stuffed cow that was a homecoming gift. “But we are confident, going forward, that we are going to win this war.”
No bean chewies? Odd.
A Landscaper Is Mauled, and an Outpouring of Sympathy Goes to the Dog [The New York Times]
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- Managing Editor
Daniel Mauser
- Editor
Cindy Casares
- Associate Editor
Alex Alvarez
- Contributing Editors
Gabriel Caro - Camilla Rowan
For what it’s worth, this story made it onto a dog community I frequent, in the form of a post from a super-ignorant immigrant-basher lady, and everybody laughed her out of the place.
So, you say there’s something wrong with Cute Overload?
Posted by csdiego | November 30, 2007
You know that if a dog from a Mexican family had done that to a white man they would of killed the dog immediately and had fined the family 4x the amount.
Posted by abox | December 01, 2007
the life of a dog being more important than the life of a Mexican is a fact of life in this country …Is this surprising?
Posted by chuleta | December 01, 2007
Um…what’s up with the photo coverage in the article? Is it that the newspaper of record selectively portrays blood and gore the likes of pulpy Mexican tabloids, especially when the gore is neither white, nor upper-middle class? You’d never see a shot of a bloody and nearly naked hedge funder who’d just been beaten up for trying to stiff his coke dealer.
I’m by no means against such bloody coverage, as long as said ickiness is more, well, universal. Maybe Times staffers can stop being so squeamish and people will actually start picking up the paper and reading it again.
Posted by pocho_guey_al_norte | December 01, 2007
@abox- “fined”? they would have put the FAMILY down… foul foul foul foul foul FOUL!
Posted by rebekah | December 01, 2007
This is a hard one for me ‘cause I LOVE dogs. I kind of feel for Congo and his owners. Also, have you been to Latin America lately? On a recent trip to Mexico, I saw a woman who had a tiger as a pet, and some guy was at a park with his diseased monkey (on a skateboard). Brown people are used to being attacked by wild animals. A domesticated dog is the least of their worries.
Check out this article: Mexicans and Tigers don’t mix
Posted by Guana Bust A Nut | December 02, 2007
as a dog owner and lover, i have to say this dog should have been put to death the same day he attacked. he’s a danger to society believe it or not.ask any animal expert. soemthing changes in their psyche that you can not trust once they’ve crossed that line. additionally, i’m enraged at the anti-immigrant bashing going on. as a princeton family member, you best believe me and my family will be having our voice heard….
Posted by mare | December 03, 2007
Until I saw the link, I thought this story was a joke. This is tragic and sad. The Northeast is very bigoted, and I personally hope the next President does not come from that region.
I’m glad the victim got $250,000 and now that dangerous dog needs to be put to sleep.
And the victim is Honduran. So stop using this as an excuse to bash Mexicans.
Posted by Susan | December 23, 2007