Wilkes-Barre man apologizes for abandoning dog Nova

WILKES-BARRE — A man who admitted to abandoning a malnourished pit bull puppy in a Pittston alley in 2021 wished he could turn back time.

Terik Wiggins, 31, of Wilkes-Barre, apologized for his role in deserting the canine named Nova, explaining he was going through rough financial times and faced eviction.

“I’m extremely sorry,” Wiggins wrote in a letter read by his attorney, Nathan Hartman, before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Thursday. “I never intended for the dog to get sick.”

Wiggins said the incident that garnered wide-spread media coverage caused him to lose family and friends.

Sklarosky said it was fortunate Nova made a full recovery and was adopted by a loving family, former Pittston City police chief Neil Murphy and his wife, Lena Angelella, police chief in Pittston Township.

Nova was in the courtroom at Angelella’s side when Sklarosky sentenced Wiggins to four-to-24 months at the county correctional facility on a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. Wiggins pled guilty to the charge March 11.

Wiggins could be released in two months as he was given credit for 58 days time served at the correctional facility.

Angelella said Nova had multiple health issues when found in the alley June 8, 2021. Court records described Nova’s health issues being severely emaciated, hookworms, an ear infection, overgrown nails and fleas. As Nova was nursed back to health by the efforts of the SPCA of Luzerne County, Shoemaker Animal Hospital and Dr. Sara McGarry, and Maxwell’s House, Angelella said Nova began making visits at the Pittston City Police Department and eventually began living with them.

Wiggins and Shaniqwa Shantel Scott, 25, of Plymouth, were charged by Pittston police and county detectives in February 2023, after a lengthy investigation. Surveillance cameras recorded a Ford Explorer that made two stops on Davis Alley with the passenger getting out with an item that appeared to be a portable kennel that was found when Nova was discovered, court records say.

Investigators used search warrants that tracked the cellular phones of Wiggins and Scott on Davis Alley about the same time Nova was abandoned, according to court records.

Hartman sought a probationary sentence with house arrest for Wiggins as he had no prior criminal record.

Sklarosky ordered Wiggins not to own any pets.

Scott, who pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals, is scheduled to be sentenced in July.