In April 2019, the Town of Liberty settled a lawsuit for $125,000 with a woman who was seriously injured after being bitten on the face by a dog that was the responsibility of Dog Control Officer Joanne Lionetti Gerow.
However, Gerow - who is also the dog control officer in the Town of Fallsburg - delegated care of the unhealthy dog to a volunteer named Cynthia Lowitz, who had a criminal record, according to court documents.
Lowitz had brought the doberman to the Tractor Supply Company on the day of the attack in April 2016, when victim Krysta Kelly was employed there. Gerow had rescued the dog and announced it through her Catskill Animal Rescue Facebook page.
Although the lawsuit settled, documents obtained by The SullivanTimes reveal that Gerow called the severely-injured plaintiff a "greedy bitch" in Facebook messages exchanged with Lowitz.
Those messages were noted as part of an order issued by State Supreme Court Justice Stephan Schick that preceded the settlement. Schick called the behavior "appalling."
(Note: This is a developing story)
