The investigation continues tonight on the death of a Schenectady man attacked and killed by a pack of dogs in Albany.
Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins says the department is working closely with the District Attorney’s office to determine whether criminal charges will be filed against the owner or whether the case will be resolved in civil court.
RELATED:Schenectady man killed by ‘eight or nine’ dogs, owner facing potential criminal charges
On Wednesday, 59-year-old James Provost was mauled to death by eight or nine mixed-breed pit bulls in the backyard of an Albany home.
“I think it’s going to be very complicated,” saidTully Rinckey lawyer Eugene Welch. “Theoretically it is a criminally negligent homicide case, which means that somebody knew that there was a risk and did nothing to stop the risk resulting in someone’s death.”
According to police, the attack happened in the backyard next door to where the dogs were housed.
The dogs’ owner, a woman of Cohoes, did not live at either home and a caregiver, a man, arrived after the attack to put the dogs away.
“We clearly see that there are some criminal implications with this,” said Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins.
Police are trying to determine why Provost was there.
23 dogs were seized, including 15 puppies, none licensed.
“Four of those dogs were previously licensed however, those licenses had expired in March of this year,” said Hawkins. “Caregiver and the owner of these animals, if they had complied with the existing rules, I think there is a high likelihood this would not have happened.”
According to the City Code, residents are required to register their dogs every year to the City Clerk to obtain a license.
Hawkins says violations are a civil matter.
“In New York State, generally speaking, or civil liability of a dog bite case, the plaintiff has to prove that the owner of the dogs or the premises where the dogs were kept had some prior knowledge that the dogs were dangerous in and of themselves,” saidWelch. “We have no idea if the owner had any knowledge that the dogs were dangerous. There’s a myth in our country about Pitt bulls and not all Pitt bulls are dangerous, we all make assumptions, but it’s not true that they’re all dangerous and so that would be a question of proof for the prosecution in the criminal case it’ll be a question of proof for the plaintiff lawyer if there’s a civil lawsuit.”
All 23 dogs are being kept at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society pending the investigation.
The organization said they were unable to comment.
A judge will decide if the dogs will be euthanized.
No arrests have been made at the time of this report.
In May, investigators conducted a search warrant for drug activity, according to police during that search warrant several dogs were confiscated.
The investigation is ongoing.
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