Bail pulled back for pit bull heroin suspect

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March 12, 2013

Bail pulled back for pit bull heroin suspect

Gloucester man accused of gutting pit bull after it swallowed drug

By Marjorie Nesin Staff Writer The Gloucester Daily Times Tue Mar 12, 2013, 12:00 AM EDT

The 27-year-old Gloucester man accused of gutting his pet pit bull after the animal overdosed on heroin in December was scheduled to appear in court Monday on a probation violation, but instead will be held in Middleton Jail with the case continued to next month.

But John “Jack” Dugan likely would have remained in jail, regardless of the hearing’s outcome, because his bail payment of $20,000 was withdrawn by the man who initially paid it sometime after Dugan was rearrested last Wednesday.

Police had rearrested Dugan about 1:20 p.m. after getting a tip that he was renting a hotel room at Captain’s Lodge Motor Inn in Gloucester, then after receiving a report from his court-mandated rehabilitation treatment facility that Dugan had not shown up for a meeting Wednesday morning.

When police and a probation officer located Dugan at the motel, he confessed to having smoked marijuana, “snorted” a pill of the opiate Percocet, and drunk a bottle of Jameson whiskey. Police also found a hand-made device that Dugan told an officer he had intended to use as container to hold drug-free urine that he would use to pass a urine drug test, according to the police report.

Police said Dugan told officers he had relapsed after a court appearance the previous day, and had begun smoking pot after leaving the Gloucester District Court.

The judge is holding Dugan without bail until April 19, when he is scheduled to return to Gloucester District Court for a hearing on the probation violation.

Dugan is also still slated to return to court on May 3 for a pre-trial hearing and a review of his main case’s status, at which time the judge could advance the case upward to the jurisdiction of a superior court in Salem.

Meanwhile, the case continues to draw interest from animal rights advocates around the state and country.

Kristen Lark, a Gloucester woman, and one of a group of activists who protested outside of Dugan’s court appearance last Tuesday, has paired up with a national group and another of the protesters, Mary Lou DiAngelis, to organize a walk to end discrimination against dog breeds like pit bull that are typically characterized as “bully breeds.”

That walk, which could begin at Gloucester’s new dog park in Stage Fort Park, a park DiAngelis helped bring to fruition, is tentatively scheduled for a May weekend after the park opens.

Marjorie Nesin can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3451, or at mnesin@gloucestertimes.com.