This is a ragged collection of Ohio pit bull attacks. It is very difficult to keep up with Ohio pit bulls. There is no explanation for the failure of any logical order here other than the sheer numbers of incidents. This post will have to be broken into several manageable installments. Please enjoy installment #1.
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The verdict is guilty in the case of a Toledo couple charged after the pit bull attack on a mentally disabled woman living in their home. The victim, Susan Demski, was the sister of Norman Demski who was found guilty on charges of patient endangerment, a first degree misdemeanor. He faces up to six months in jail.
Norman's wife Susan faces up to a year in prison on charges of attempted assault.
Norman and Susan Demski
The Demski home.
For more information please click here.
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3/3/2015
Toledo Ohio
Here is an update on Jovie the underweight pit bull puppy in Toledo Ohio. At 8 months old Jovie is now up to 19 pounds and is described by the Toledo Blade as "feisty". This is the Toledo Blade so Jean Keating is heavily quoted for those who follow Ms. Keating's breed specific advocacy.
Late update. Jovie has died following surgery to correct intestinal malformations.
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3/3/2015
Warren Ohio
Let me know when this story makes sense. A 25 year old woman was bitten on the hip by a brown and white pit bull. She was still bleeding when police arrived at the scene. A police officer spotted the pit bull with a second dog nearby (breed of the second dog was not reported). Both dogs were reportedly aggressive and were very close to a church where a funeral was in progress and 80 people were standing outside. One dog was snared by police, the brown and white pit bull ran to a nearby house. An officer spoke to the owner of the house, she is also apparently the owner of both dogs. She told police that she can't control the dogs, they don't have their vaccinations, they are not licensed, there is no insurance AND she can't afford the $56 fee to surrender the dogs to the Trumbell County dog kennel so police LEFT THE DOGS WITH HER. What?????
This statement comes from Gwen Logan, executive dog warden for the Trumbell County dog kennel “Dog wardens in Ohio have the authority to take stray animals. By law we don’t have to take owner dogs,” Logan said. She added that animal-rescue organizations are the place to turn to if someone has a dog that they can’t afford and can’t handle.
How is the safety of the public served when vicious dogs are left with incompetent dog owners BECAUSE they are incompetent, irresponsible, and financially incapable of taking care of their dogs?
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3/3/2015
Middletown Ohio
Residents of Mark Kumpf's territory came up with this interesting attack story. A two year old girl was reportedly bitten by a neighborhood dog while building a snowman with her father in the backyard of her grandparent's home in Middletown. The father, Tyler Smith, of Dayton, told police that he grabbed the dog by the neck and choked it until it released his daughter. Quite the hero. Smith then drove his child to a local medical facility, the child was transported to Dayton Children's Hospital where she received 80 stitches to her face.
A local resident was cited for dog at large but she stated that her dog was confined at home at the time of the attack but had been at large earlier in the day. Per Scott.net " Today, police told this news outlet that the family may have devised their story in order to spare the family pet.
"We received further information last night," said Middletown Police Major Mark Hoffman. "At this point, we believe it was the family dog, the victim's own dog bit her."
According to a police report, Kimberly Brumett-Smith told police that Tyler Smith, her son, sent her a text message telling her not to tell the truth to the police. Brumett-Smith told police it was actually her dog, which she described as a brown pit bull, that bit her granddaughter in the face at her residence.
"We will be looking at withdrawing the charges on the other dog (owner), if we can determine it was not indeed running loose," Hoffman said.
An anonymous caller told police that "several people who were present in the residence on Woodlawn had made up the story so that they would not get in trouble and that their dog will not be taken," according to the police report."
The Smith Family.
Monroe Smith
The Journal News tells us that Monroe Smith's parents had plans for her to enter beauty pageants prior to the pit bull attack that scarred her face.
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3/5/2015
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation
This will just make your day if you are an Ohio taxpayer. A convicted murderer won a judgement against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation because he was bitten by a dog that was part of a state prison adopt-a-dog program. It is possible that the dog mentioned in this Toledo Blade article is the dog in question, if not they it was a program just like Toledo's. Here is a quote from an article on dogs in the program "One that had gone for behavior-modification training with the Prisoners Helping Dogs program at Toledo Correctional Institution bit his inmate trainer over a toy and was killed."
Background on the Behavior Modification Program. Toledo is possibly the most pit bull positive city in the world, absolutely the most pit bull positive in Ohio. Toledo is also over run with pit bulls that find themselves in the Lucas County Canine Care and Control facility run by Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle. A quote from the Blade "With less than a week remaining, a 60-day pilot program at Lucas County Canine Care & Control to cut down on the killing of food-guarding dogs has resulted in more dogs killed than saved. “We have mixed results at this point,” shelter Director Julie Lyle said. “We’re going to finish it out and see what we’ve got,” she said. The program that began March 5 provides constant access to food, a technique called free-feeding, for dogs that freeze or growl over a food bowl but who do well in all other areas of their behavior evaluations."
Please read the linked Toledo Blade article for more information and lunacy. Please note the slant on long suffering Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle. She is doing the job she was hired to do folks.
As usual, I have digressed. Back to Vincent Doan, age 42, serving a life sentence for the kidnapping and aggravated murder of his girlfriend in 1996. Doan filed a negligence lawsuit against prison officials after he was attacked by a dog at the Correctional Reception Center. Per the Columbus Dispatch " Doan claimed he suffered permanent disfigurement and nerve damage when he was mauled by the dog, losing part of his nose and receiving a hole in his cheek.
He claimed prison officials were aware the dog was vicious and were negligent in allowing inmates to care for the animal. Inmates are assigned to care for and train homeless dogs that then are made available for adoption by the public."
Doan will receive a $7500 settlement.
Taxpayers are picking up all the bills here, Doan will be a taxpayer liability for as long as he lives. Taxpayers are paying the bills for municipal shelters and the programs they run. Taxpayers usually pay the bills for attack victims, medical bills for pit bull attack victim Zainabou Drame total roughly a million dollars with no end in sight. Taxpayers will pay the settlement to Doan. Money well spent? I don't think so. Some dogs can't be saved, they are, for whatever reason, not suited for life in our communities. They are dangerous and "training" to pass behavior evaluations is wasting taxpayer dollars and puts the public at risk.
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12/13/2014
DAYTON Ohio
A twelve year old Dayton child reported that he was charged and chased by two dogs described as pit bulls as he was walking to school. The boy was able to make it back home, his father had to take his son to school. Animal Control reported that the dogs were pit bulls and were not licensed. It is not clear if the Animal Control officers were employed by the city of Dayton or the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center run by Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf.
The pit bull owner was cited and a hole in the owner's fence was found that allowed the pit bulls to escape and menace the public. Shocking that this would happen in Dayton.
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2/1/2015
DAYTON again.
Here is the story. A 14 year old boy took his pit bull, named "Menace", for a walk. The boy's mother reported that a neighbor's pit bull, named "Jada" ran from a backyard and attempted to bite her son. The boy told police that before Jada could lunge at him Menace jumped into action, positioning himself between Jada and the boy. At this point Jada attacked Menace, biting Menace on the side of his head. Jada's owner ran from his house and was able to take his mauler home.
Menace displayed a punctured ear with part of the ear missing.
Jada's owner told police that he was in his yard grilling dinner with Jada off leash and free to roam. Jada ran out of the yard and down the street to attack Menace. Jada's owner was bitten while trying to regain control of the charming Jada. Jada's owner was cited. Shocking that this would happen in Dayton.
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1/29/2015
Cincinnati Ohio
While Cincinnati pit bull advocates lobby for laws soft on pit bulls, pit bull victim Brandon Williams of Newport Tennessee was driven to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati for surgery to improve his hearing since both of his ears were torn off in a pit bull attack. Reports indicate that teh surgery was successful. In August 2011 Brandon was carrying packages to a neighbor's home when he was attacked by the pit bulls. This was Brandon's fifth surgery.
Shriners members transport patients to the hospital and back home, all costs for treatment and surgeries are paid by the Shriners. This is a very fine organization, fine hospital, very worthy of support by the public. I am proud that my family members honor my birthday and Christmas with contributions to the Shriners Hospital for Children made in my name. This pleases me very much.
Brandon Williams, honor roll student and pit bull victim.
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12/23/2014
Youngstown Ohio
From the "wouldn't mandatory neuter and spay be more humane than this?" files. A pit bull was found at large in the McGuffey Road area with an arrow in his face, just below his right eye. Rick Tunison of the Mahoning County Dog Warden's office stated the pit bull is expected to make a full recovery after surgery. It is not known who shot the dog, a neighborhood resident claims to own it. For video of the capture please click here. This pit bull does not appear to be troubled by the arrow even a little bit. Capture of the dog took about an hour and involved police, humane agents, and a deputy dog warden. The costs of efforts like this are not recognized by those who claim that breed specific legislation is expensive for taxpayers.
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I will try to make the Ohio pit bull roundup a weekly event. It gets out of control very quickly.
