A tiny pooch was fatally struck by an e-bike in a sidewalk hit-run on the Upper East Side on Memorial Day weekend – but the dog’s grieving owner says she can’t get justice for the pup because of a loophole in state law.
Local resident Sarah Grant’s 18-month-old shih tzu-poodle mix Fennel – who Grant rescued in December – was out with a dog walker when she was struck on the sidewalk by an e-bike rider on East 96th Street near Third Avenue in Manhattan just before 6 p.m. that Sunday, her owner said.
“She was not very responsive,” Grant told The Post, recalling the moment her dog walker rushed Fennel back to her nearby apartment building. “Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she was barely moving. It was just heartbreaking.”
Fennel sustained a traumatic brain injury and severe skull fracture and was euthanized hours later.
But when her owner attempted to file a police report with the NYPD, she was told she couldn’t, as the incident wasn’t a criminal matter — because dogs are only considered property under the law.
“I pushed back. If dogs are property, then this is a property crime,” Grant said. “And they [still] said, ‘No, you cannot submit a report.’ ” Grant said.
She said she was told only her dog walker — who was also injured in the incident — could file a report.
“This is a wake-up call for me,” Grant said. “I’ve always had pets, and it’s an oversight that there is no legal recourse.
“Setting a car on fire is considered to be a worse felony than setting a dog on fire.”
The legal loophole is already the subject of a state bill introduced in January by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan). The bill seeks to swap the “property” classification of such animals to “sentient beings” and establish that they can be a victim of a crime. The bill has remained in committee since its introduction.
A “sentient being is one who perceives or responds to sensations of whatever kind—sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell,” according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.
The Mayor’s Office of Animal Welfare told The Post it is looking into the matter in conjunction with other city agencies.
“We are heartbroken to hear about Fennel and are in touch with her family,” a rep for the office told The Post.
In addition to championing Rosenthal’s bill to reclassify animals as “sentient beings” under the law, Grant is calling for more enforcement for pedestrians safety on Gotham’s sidewalks, where any form of biking is illegal for riders over the age of 12.
“Whether that’s for humans or pets, it needs to be a bigger priority,” Grant said of the issue. “An e-bike at that speed is deadly. I think people need to have a license and prove they have an understanding of traffic law in order to drive them.”
Janet Schroeder, director and co-founder of the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, which has called for the registration and licensing of e-bikes, told The Post that Fennel’s passing is “incredibly sad” and “infuriating” — but not surprising.
“The fact that the e-biker fled is also expected,” she said. “The rider flees the crash scene the majority of the time and therefore the rider can’t be held accountable because they can’t be identified.”
Schroeder said Fennel’s untimely death is yet another reason city legislators must pass the proposed Priscilla’s Law, a “common-sense solution” requiring license plates on e-vehicles “so that egregious riding can be identified by enforcement cameras and riders held accountable to following the basic rules of the road which will change egregious riding behavior.”
In 104 e-bike-related crashes that Schroeder’s group recorded, only four riders remained at the scene, according to the coalition — and in only six cases were crashes logged by the NYPD.
“This is a public-health crisis, and there is blood on the hands of any legislator who continues to do nothing but talk,” Schroeder added.
Fennel’s tragic passing comes just weeks after the mauling of chihuahua pup Penny on the Upper West Side by a pair of pitbulls sparked public outcry over how the city and state handle animal-related crimes.
As dogs are considered property under state law, police often don’t get involved unless a human is attacked or a human owner participates in crimes against dogs — and justice for Penny has yet to be served as well, animal advocates say.
“[From] East Harlem to Brooklyn, there are people who … have the same concern: Somebody has dogs who attack other dogs, and nobody does anything about it,” city Council Member Gale Brewer told The Post this month.
“The agencies try, but they operate in a silo. We need to have everyone working together.”
Grant said, “I think if people knew and understood the ramifications of [the law], it would help galvanize action.
“I don’t want any money out of this — I just want accountability, I want the laws to change,” she said.
“I don’t want any other people to have to go through what I’m going through.”
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