Kolbjornsen, 46, founder and owner of Elite Animal Trainers in Islip Terrace, recently developed an avocation for saving death-row dogs named Duke.

The first, a 1-year-old bulldog from East Meadow who tagged along with two Rottweilers when they mauled a 4-year-old boy in April, was spared. But the other Duke - an amber-eyed pit bull who accosted this reporter with slobbery kisses - is slated to be euthanized Friday.

"These two Dukes have a lot of things in common," said Kolbjornsen, who brought the two together for a photograph yesterday. "Both of them have been unjustly accused."

Duke the pit bull has been impounded at the Town of Islip shelter for 2 1/2 years - more than half the 4 1/2-year-old dog's life. He was deemed a dangerous dog in November 2003 when his owner, Denise Menendez of Hauppauge, failed to attend a hearing to respond to a neighbor's accusations that Duke and her female pit bull had attacked his dogs and horse. (Menendez said her husband went to the wrong court house.)

Menendez failed to follow the court's order to keep the dogs penned when outside, and a month later, the neighbor, Dominick Motta, alleged the pit bulls attacked his American bulldog. In February 2004, a judge ordered that Duke be euthanized. This July, the appellate division of the State Supreme Court denied Duke's most recent appeal.

Kolbjornsen said Menendez hired him a year ago to evaluate Duke. He started with pressing and pulling on the pit bull's ears, feet and flanks. No response, but for tail wags. Kolbjornsen rolled the unneutered male on his back. He picked him up and restrained him. He ran up to his face and stamped his feet. He took away toys, moved his food bowl while he was eating. Nada. Zero. Zip.

"I was pushing this dog to see if he would react, but he has the temperament of a Labrador retriever," said Kolbjornsen, who organized a rally last week to publicize Duke's plight and has helped Menendez find new legal representation. "There's no proof that this dog was the one that did it, and everything points to the fact that he didn't."

Workers at the shelter mirror Kolbjornsen's assessment, saying the dog's greatest transgression has been to leap atop a table to help himself to a container of Milk-Bones during Menendez's frequent visits.

Kolbjornsen, whose calm, steady manner invariably evokes comparisons to "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan, said he helps rehabilitate problem dogs for local shelters, and has about 10 dogs available for adoption to the right homes. He added that a request to stay Duke the pit bull's euthanasia order could be filed as early as today.

The first Duke already has his fairy-tale ending: The two Rottweilers involved in the child's mauling were euthanized, with the young bulldog headed for a similar fate - until Kolbjornsen volunteered to evaluate him.

Kolbjornsen's temperament testing confirmed what many bulldog aficionados already suspected: "Duke's a follower - he doesn't show any signs of being a dominant dog." A compromise to save the dog's life was struck when Kolbjornsen agreed to board and train Duke at his facility until the bow-legged bowser is placed with a new owner who lives out of state and does not have any children.

"He's a great dog - I just told him that tonight," Kolbjornsen said of the smushed-faced pup. "I'm going to be sad to see him go."

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
August 22, 2006 in Newshound | Permalink