A Staten Island woman accused of throwing ammonia into the eyes of her neighbors' English bulldog has had felony charges against her dropped on the basis that the animal made a full recovery, the Staten Island Advance reports.
Irene Helale, 69, was arrested in June after tossing the chemical on the face of Rocky, the 5-year-old dog owned by her next door neighbors, the Latinos. Helale said she was tired of Rocky constantly barking and jumping on the fence separating her property from the Latinos, though denied pouring ammonia on the dog himself—she asserted, at the time, that she had simply splashed it on the fence.
On Wednesday, Helale was sentenced to a conditional discharge, and ordered to pay back the ASPCA for medical bills incurred treating Rocky. She has also been banned from owning a dog in the future.
The sentence was in accordance with the city Probation Department's recommendation, said Paul Capofari, Helale's lawyer.
"This case involves neighbors and Mr. and Mrs. Helale want to be good neighbors," he told the Advance. "Mrs. Helale is very remorseful for the incident. She now has a criminal conviction, the opprobrium of the community and has admitted she unjustifiably injured the neighbors' dog."
