Dismissal of cruelty charges against former Pittsburgh animal control officer draws criticism

A Pittsburgh police officer and an animal rights activist say they are disturbed by a district judge’s decision to throw out animal cruelty charges against a former city animal control officer.

District Judge James A. Motznik dismissed all four charges against James Genco III, 48, during a July 6 preliminary hearing, court records show.

A criminal complaint filed in the case said that on March 17, 2021, Genco dragged a dog he had rescued through a Humane Animal Rescue parking garage so violently that one witness said it looked like he was “mopping the floor” with the dog. The dog suffered serious injuries, the complaint said.

Genco was charged in March of this year with two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and two summary charges of cruelty to animals, court records show.

Similar charges had been filed in June 2021. District Judge Thomas Miller dismissed the four charges a few months later, authorities said.

A staff member in the district attorney’s office declined to answer questions about the case when reached Wednesday.

“Animal care and control officers are specifically trained to know how to handle animals in a way that is safe — and he clearly didn’t do that,” said Natalie Ahwesh, executive director of the animal rights advocacy group Humane Action Pittsburgh. “The fact that the injuries were so severe and the fact that he was acting outside the scope of his training was disturbing.”

Pittsburgh police Officer Christine Luffey, a 30-year bureau veteran specializing in animal neglect and abuse, said “everyone involved in this case was stunned and heartbroken that the charges were dismissed.”

Luffey was the filing officer for both criminal complaints against Genco.

“James Genco received training on how to handle a dog that is guarding its territory and on how to use a control pole,” Luffey said. “He did not follow his training.”

Motznik on Thursday defended his decision to dismiss the charges this month.

He said Miller dismissed the four animal cruelty charges against Genco in 2021 and no new information was provided to explain why new charges were warranted.

Motznik confirmed that he reviewed videos of Genco handling the dog during the 2021 incident in a Humane Animal Rescue garage.

“I heard the case. I saw a veteran animal control officer working for the city, trying to handle a vicious dog … that was a danger to the community,” Motznik said.

When asked about Genco “mopping the floor” with the dog, or the trail of blood, feces and urine it left behind, Motznik maintained the dog appeared conscious at all times in the video.

“And nobody could actually prove how those injuries occurred,” he said.

Casey White, Genco’s attorney, did not return calls this week seeking comment.

The tan pit bull-type dog that Genco took out of a car in 2021 suffered broken teeth, a broken tail, ruptured blood vessels in both eyes, lacerations, abrasions and muscle damage, the complaint said.

Genco’s defense attorney previously said that Genco did not harm the dog, but rather saved its life.

“At no point did my client intend to injure this dog and, quite frankly, I believe it’s questionable my client caused any of these injuries,” White said. “It’s our position, quite frankly, that these injuries were self-inflicted or preexisting.”

The 2021 incident started in the Strip District when Genco and another animal control officer responded to a report of dogs left unattended in a car, the complaint said. The two men removed the dogs from the car and took them to Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh.

The temperature that day was 50 degrees and “it is very, very unlikely that a dog would be in danger of suffering heatstroke,” Ahwesh said.

The criminal complaint said security footage from inside the Humane Animal Rescue garage showed Genco using excessive force on the dog to the point it left a trail of blood and feces.

Luffey wrote in the complaint filed in March of this year that one camera angle showed Genco pushing the control pole into the truck several times before he could get the loop around the dog’s neck. From there, he pulled the dog out of the truck and the dog collided with the door and a brick wall.

A different camera angle showed Genco dragging the dog, which was struggling, across the garage floor as it lay flat. A veterinary technician said she heard yelping and high-pitched screaming, and entered the garage to see Genco dragging the dog, which she said was leaving “a trail of what appear(ed) to be blood, urine and feces,” the complaint said.

The vet tech said it looked like Genco was “mopping the floor” with the dog, Luffey wrote.

Genco filed a lawsuit against Luffey in federal court after his charges were dismissed in 2021.

His lawsuit alleged that there was no probable cause for any charges. It also said that Luffey failed to include exculpatory evidence in her affidavit of probable cause, including statements from other officers on the scene that day.

Genco was suspended from his job with the city in 2021, then fired a week later, according to his lawsuit.

Genco’s lawsuit was later dismissed by a federal judge.

Ahwesh said her organization now “will do whatever we can to ensure that James Genco doesn’t have access to care for animals anymore.”

“We feel this case was an opportunity to send a message that animal abuse … won’t be tolerated in our community. We’re upset this opportunity was missed,” she said.

Despite the legal outcome, Luffey said she has “absolutely no regrets for filing criminal charges against James Genco.”