28°
Jennifer Caruso raised her middle finger when news media members tried to take her photo in court and then left the building shielding her face with a folder.
"The dog is dead! The dog is dead!" shouted a woman after the decision was announced. "She killed the dog!"
Central Municipal Court Judge Lous Dinice ordered Bergen County Sheriff's officers to remove her.
Caruso pleaded guilty to three criminal charges -- abandoning a domestic animal and failing to provide food or water.
Prosecutors, in turn, dropped charges of not providing shelter or vet care in exchange for her plea.
Protesters rallied before Tuesday's hearing, demanding justice for "Sully," a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog who police said ate sofa cushions before dying.
Daily Voice broke the news in late February that Caruso -- formerly Jennifer Cook -- was charged with abandoning a domestic animal and failing to provide food, water, shelter and vet care.
Caruso left her ex-husband's dog behind after the two divorced and she moved to Norwood, authorities said. He was behind bars in the Bergen County Jail on unrelated charges.
Sully's corpse was found on Feb. 18 after police were called to a report of water coming from beneath a garage door and an alarm sounding inside the home at 442 Crest Drive.
They summoned firefighters to gain entry.
Sully "appeared to be left unattended for an extended period of time," Police Chief William Essmann said at the time. "The conditions of the residence were deplorable and it appeared the dog may have eaten the cushions of a sofa in the absence of food."
A necropsy was conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Animal Cruelty Task Force, and the SPCA filed the charges.
CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS
Click here to follow Daily Voice Northern Valley and receive free news updates.
