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PLAINS TWP. — A township man whose animal attacked a 2-year-old boy at the Hollenback Dog Park last year was acquitted Tuesday on summary charges he owned two wolf hybrids without a permit.
David Cannon Jr., 54, was charged by the state Game Commission in November after blood samples taken from his two dogs revealed they were wolf hybrids.
One of the animals, a Siberian Husky, mauled 2-year-old Hayden Davis, of Hanover Township, as the boy reached through a fence at the dog park May 8. Davis underwent surgery after the mauling.
Cannon was cited by the Wilkes-Barre Animal Enforcement Office with allowing an animal to injure a person. Cannon pleaded guilty to the summary offense Aug. 30, and was fined $197.39.
The boy’s family has filed a lawsuit against Cannon, alleging he had a legal duty to keep the animal restrained at the park and to train it to act properly.
After the boy was mauled, the Game Commission seized Cannon’s two dogs when a search warrant was executed at his residence Oct. 18. Blood samples were taken and sent for testing at the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory in East Stroudsburg.
Results showed Cannon’s two dogs, a male and a female, were wolf hybrids.
According to the Game Commission, wolves and wolf hybrids may be possessed after obtaining an exotic wildlife permit, but Cannon never applied for one.
Cannon was charged in November with two summary counts of possessing exotic wildlife without a permit and a single summary count of failure to exercise care to safeguard the public.
A summary trial was held before District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo Jr., who found Cannon not guilty on all counts.