Man Who Owns 2 Pit Bulls That Mauled Chihuahua on UWS is on the Lam

There is a warrant out for the arrest of the owner of two 100-pound pit bulls that mauled Penny, a now-recovered 16-pound chihuahua, on Columbus Avenue on May 3.

Joseph Columbus defied a court order to hand his dogs over to the NYPD on June 10 and skipped his scheduled June 13 court appearance.

Text messages introduced in court by Columbus’s attorney alleged that the tiny ten-year old chihuahua instigated the attack by the two larger dogs.

“I was there for the original plan to say the bite was the Pitbull, not Penny,” the chihuahua’s owner, Lauren Claus, texted one of the people who videotaped the brutal encounter.

“So you lied too,” the other person replied.

“For like an hour yes,” Claus allegedly wrote in the text.

Claus declined to comment on the text as her lawyers draft a statement.

Claus said she is down $12,000 in medical fees for her pup.

Aside from his pit bulls, Rambo and Zoey, Columbus owns a French bulldog, according to a tenant in Columbus’s building, wishing to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

“He’s just so f***ing mean,” said the tenant. “He’s screaming, constantly,” and claimed the entire building hears Columbus hurl slurs like “ni***r” and “ret**ded” at his pets and school-aged children. “He’s smoking weed in the hallway with his kids,” the tenant said.

Columbus, however, claims in court that Zoey does not live with him, and that Rambo is his “service dog” on account of Columbus’s “obesity and depression,” citing a certificate issued by a Kentucky-based tele-health doctor.

“They’re very sweet dogs; they’ve just been abused,” said the tenant, claiming the pups are locked inside for days, crying late into the night, the stench of their feces and urine permeating the building.

“Inter-dog aggression can be exacerbated by poor socialization as puppies,” said Dr. Pepe Hernandez, an UWS dog trainer.

Rambo and Zoey could be put down because an earlier attack by the two dogs resulted in the death of another dog. It is nearly impossible to rehabilitate dogs after they have killed other dogs, according to Dr. Hernandez.

“Had Joe’s dogs been dealt with in January [when the earlier attack occurred], Penny would have never gotten attacked,” said Karen Kramer, an UWS dog-walker in reference to Columbus’s pits mauling a pair of elderly Shih Tzus in January, one of whom died.

In response to that attack, the Department of Health ordered Columbus in March to muzzle, neuter, and train his dogs. He never complied.

On Feb. 24, Zoey mauled Pope, a 60-pound pit-mix who was passing by, the owner, identified only by the first name Valerie, told Straus News in an exclusive interview.

“He bit my dog and latched on for like a full minute,” Valerie said.

We reached out to Columbus’s lawyer, Ikiesha Al-Shabazz, but she declined to comment on any allegations against her client. In court on June 13, the judge ordered Shabazz to “stop talking” for telling the judge her “perception of the case is not fully formed,” according to the New York Post.

On Tuesday, Claus and Kramer lobbied in Albany for Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar’s “Penny’s Law,” to hold negligent pet owners accountable. The bill has so far stalled in committee.

UWS Council Member Gale Brewer is still drafting a NYC equivalent promised over a month ago, according to her office.

Because pets are considered property in New York State, dog-on-dog attacks often go unpunished. Online, thousands support Claus’s effort to change that law. Her petition to do so has over 28,000 signatures.

“These attacks are an epidemic,” Claus said.

An epidemic at which pit bulls seem front and center. Penny’s case has reignited debate online around banning the breed.

“Plenty of pit bulls are completely sweet animals,” said Dr. Hernandez, adding that the breed simply has a “naturally high predatory drive” that owners must study. He insists lack of training, leashing, and muzzling is the problem.

“There are no excuses. These are completely preventable types of attacks,” the dog trainer said.