‘Death Row’ Dog Is Pardoned and Then Banned From N.J.

A dog sentenced to die after it injured a child won a pardon Friday from Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, but can never return to New Jersey.

Whitman decreed that Taro, a 110-pound Akita, be exiled from the state and have new owners. The dog’s present owners, Lonnie and Sandy Lehrer of Haworth, N.J., have 30 days to agree to the terms.

“I am delighted that we have saved Taro’s life,” Lonnie Lehrer said in a statement released by the Animal Rights Law Center of the Rutgers Law School.

Taro has been on Death Row at the Bergen County Jail since February, 1991. The borough of Haworth ordered him destroyed after he injured 10-year-old Brie Halfond on Christmas Day in 1990.

Borough officials said the dog bit the girl’s lip, but the Lehrers said the child provoked the dog and was scratched. The girl is the Lehrer’s niece.

Taro’s saga became an international cause celebre, with dog lovers from around the world offering to take the Akita.

Brigitte Bardot, the actress turned animal rights activist, had telegrammed Whitman’s predecessor, James J. Florio, last year in support of the dog. Florio refused to get involved in the case.

Whitman’s order came two days after the state Supreme Court decided it would not hear an appeal brought by Taro’s owners.

“It’s time to put this behind us and move on,” Whitman told reporters. “There’s been too much money and time and effort spent on this dog.”

The dog’s internment at the Bergen County Jail cost about $18 a day. The Lehrers have spent about $30,000 fighting the death sentence, while the borough has spent $60,000 defending it.