Owners of dogs that killed Michigan runner in country illegally

Author on New Year's Day

In the decades I've been running, I've never been attacked by a dog. A runner in Michigan wasn't as fortunate.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The Metamora couple whose dogs killed a jogger last week are in the U.S. illegally and were facing imminent deportation at the time of the attack.

Valbona Lucaj, 44, got into the country from Albania in January 1997 after bribing an immigration officer into granting her asylum, according to federal court filings. Her Italian husband, Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, arrived a month earlier as a tourist and never left.

The two are potentially facing involuntary manslaughter charges after their Cane Corso dogs attacked and killed Craig Sytsma, 46, of Livonia on July 23 as he jogged past their home on a rural Metamora Township road. Lapeer County prosecutors are expected to announce a decision on criminal charges this week. It is unclear what, if any impact, their citizenship status will have on possible prosecution.

Cane Corso dogs are similar to bull mastiffs.

As for the current border crisis, it's expected that many of the Central Americans who have illegally entered the nation will claim asylum.

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