Metro

Mobster says he’s an animal lover, not a fighter

A Gambino gangster is hoping to dodge jail time by claiming he’s now “The Dogfather.”

Veteran Gambino soldier Joseph Lombardi, 73, says he should be granted probation for an extortion rap because he’s morphed from Mafioso to mutt lover by volunteering to help stray animals, according to court papers.

Lombardi’s lawyer even says the gangster made his bones a few years ago when he opened an obedience school, which went out of business.

“After a two-year failure of a dog training school, Mr. Lombardi continued his fondness for animals by rescuing stray dogs and cats and transporting them to an animal shelter where he volunteered,” his attorney writes in a Brooklyn federal court document filed Monday.

“At one point, he bought a trailer to shelter the strays, but he was fined when neighbors complained.”

Despite Lombardi’s pooch-lover routine, prosecutors say his “animal shelter” is about as legitimate as Don Corleone’s olive oil company.

The feds say that when they inspected the site of the alleged facility in Old Bridge, NJ, they found only a recycling center and a few trailers.

Lombardi was even denied the right to visit the site in 2011, while free on $1 million bail.

He pleaded guilty last April to extorting a man through threats of violence. He faces sentencing on Oct. 22.

While he claims to love critters, Lombardi’s stance towards his fellow human beings — especially those late on loan payments — is far less kindhearted.

He once told a debtor that he would personally come to his home to collect. “You f–ked me, OK?” he barks on an informer’s secret wire recording, according to court papers. “I will f–k you back, don’t worry about that.”

Lombardi was rounded up along with a pack of other Gambinos in 2011 and charged with extortion.

Lombardi has a rap sheet that stretches to 1962 for crimes such as grand larceny and gun possession.

The geezer gangster also cited a litany of medical problems in lobbying for leniency in his letter to the court.

“I confidently can state that in my 48 years of practice in this Honorable Court, never have I encountered a client who has exhibited such a history,” his attorney, Michael Rosen, said in court papers.