We are working our way through the backlog of Ohio pit bull news but not caught up yet. There is no order to this.
2/22/2015
Richland Ohio
The Richland Public Health Department is looking for a white and brown pit bull wearing a collar. The pit bull bit a person and remains at large. Authorities warn against anyone attempting to restrain the dog.
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3/10/2015
Trenton Ohio
From the "a pit bull's worst nightmare is likely to be his owner" file. Two hikers found a dead pit bull tied to a tree in a remote wooded area of a local park. The pit bull appeared to have strangled himself struggling against the very short cord. One of the hikers had this to say " "It didn't look abused. It didn't look malnourished at all. It looked like a really good looking dog, a healthy dog, but I guess they didn't want it"
The hiker went on to tell the reporter that as he and his cousin were on their way out of the woods they met a man with a small, sick dog that he intended to abandon in the woods to die. The cousins were able to talk the man into taking his dog to a shelter. What is going on in the Woodsdale Park?
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2/23/2015
Xenia Ohio
More from the "a pit bull's worst nightmare his likely to be his owner" file. Kane the pit bull is dead, starved (37 pounds roughly half what Kane would have been expected to weigh), heavily infested with parasites, and frozen. Kane's owner, Jason Michael Smith Jr. was incarcerated and care of Kane was passed to Smith's friend Steven Gale. Kane was being kept at Gale's house but apparently Gale did not bother to care for a dog in his own yard. How much effort would have been involved here?
Neighbors brought food, blankets heated in their dryers, and hay for bedding but were unable to save Kane. Per WHIO "Weeks ago, county animal control agents told the owner to put up tarp to shelter the dog from the biting wind. According to the National Weather Service, record-setting low temperatures registered in the single digits and wind chills were making it “feel like” well below zero."
Xenia is in Green County Ohio. Both Smith and Gale have been charged in the death of Kane the pit bull. Wouldn't mandatory neuter and spay be better than this?
Jason Michael Smith JR. booking photo
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2/3/2015
Berea Ohio
Zora the deaf pit bull is looking for a special home. Zora, housed at the Berea Animal Rescue Shelter for the last six months, has been in training with a shelter trainer. Watch the video, this is a big, 70 pound, two year old, active dog. The trainer remarked "she does need management when she plays, she doesn't know when to stop."
3/10/2015 Zora found her special home. Now known as Zoey, the pit bull is the new companion of a six year old deaf child. Per Cleveland.com "Gilliam had been thinking of getting a dog for about three years, but the right one had not come along. All that changed when Gilliam's mother, Jean Stuart, brought a newspaper article to her daughter's attention. Zoey was the subject of a "Needs a home" feature in the Sun newspapers. "I said, 'Oh my God, Courtney, this is the dog for you!' Mike's deaf, she's deaf, and so we went and looked at her," Stuart says." "Both Gilliam and her mother believe pit bulls do not deserve their reputation for being a "bad breed."
A Hoxie family adopted a pit bull after being told that the pit bull showed no signs of aggression. “She seemed like the sweetest dog I've ever seen,” Hilderbran said. “She was very well mannered and very calm. I'd seen her around other dogs, we watched her around our daughter before, without me holding her and she seemed fine with her.”Three days later the pit bull attacked the four year old daughter. Did relocation change the dog? Apparently not. After attacking the child the pit bull escaped the home and was shot by police due to aggression toward officers. See video.
Back to the "a pit bull's worst nightmare is likely to be its owner" files for this one. Dayton firefighters pulled a pit bull out of a burning vacant home.
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2/8/2015
A pit bull, tied in a backyard in Dayton broke free and attacked a passerby. The victim required treatment at a local hospital. The pit bull owner was cited for failure to license his pit bull. The victim plans to press charges. Go for it!
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4/10/2015
In a story you will never see on the news, a Kettering woman is unable to receive home delivery of her mail because the neighbor's Lab runs loose and postal employees feel threatened. Video is included with the story.
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Police arrived at the home of James England, age 28, to arrest him for an assaulting two men with a steel pipe during a road rage incident.in October. At that time England went ballistic after three men yelled at him to slow down as he drove through a trailer park. How might one deal with the supreme insult of having people yell at you to slow down? You jump out of your truck and beat them with a section of steel pipe, as Mr. England did. The most seriously injured victim was hospitalized for a week.
Fast forward to February. When police arrived at the front door to arrest him England ran out the back door of his house. Officers patiently waiting at the back door grabbed England through the partially boarded up and broken door. During the struggle one of the police officers was dragged partially into the home and at this point England's dogs, an American Bulldog and a pit bull rushed the police (what else would someone like this own?) An attempt was made to subdue England with a tazer but the tazer did not connect. England, with one wrist in handcuffs, was able to run back into his house. Police shot at the dogs but found that they had hit England instead. England was seriously wounded and transported to a local hospital
Neighborhood residents were not particularity upset with this. Burglaries and theft in the neighborhood increased dramatically after England moved in last year. England openly admitted to dealing heroin from the house.
One neighbor stated “Traffic in and out of there was ridiculous.” Once while feeding birds and having a cigarette, the neighbor said he was startled by a stranger who ran through his yard carrying a Sony PlayStation. "
England has a police record going back 10 years with convictions for burglary, assault, drug possession, and breaking and entering. The neighbors will not miss him. The pit bull and the American Bulldog were not injured, no mention was made of their final destination. Please watch the video where the neighbor talks about a drug raid at England's house. Mr. England was sure that his neighbors had ratted him out so he threatened to shoot everyone in the neighborhood. A "responsible pit bull owner" for sure.
Booking photo for James England.
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3/17/2015
Lima Ohio
Speaking of drug raids we will move on to this one. A "no knock" drug raid was conducted at a home in Lima Ohio. A SWAT team entered the home and shouted for the home owner to cage his pit bull. The story gets odd here. Susan and James Smith claim that after they caged Lulu the pit bull a police officer kicked the cage open allowing Lulu to escape. The Smiths state that Lulu was not aggressive and "would never hurt a fly". Per the Smiths, the dog ran into a bedroom where she was shot five times by a police officer. Lulu then ran into a neighbor's yard where she was shot three more times. "Meanwhile Smith was being beaten by officers."
Police reports indicate the dog was shot three times but the location of that shooting is not noted. No complaints of excessive force by police against Smith or his pit bull have been made to the Allen County Sheriffs Office. Seems like five shots fired in a bedroom would be pretty easy to prove. Both Susan and James Smith have been charged with keeping a disorderly house (they can do that?), resisting arrest, and obstructing official business. Police would not release a statement on drugs found in the home due to the ongoing investigation. Mr. Smith stated that a pound of weed had been found in his home.
Lulu the pit bull was shot and killed by police.
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3/17/2015
Sandusky Ohio
This festive St. Patricks Day story comes from the Sandusky Register. Picture it, there is a discussion between neighbors about couches that had been in the yard of a pit bull owner for weeks. The neighbors are not pleased with the look. Per the Register "In response, the men began exchanging words in the neighbor's yard, while the neighbor was holding onto a leash connected to his pit bull, according to a Sandusky police report. The man then asked his neighbor if his dog was licensed.
A passerby called police who "battled" the pit bulls, Tazing one of them. That pit bull died. The other pit bull was eventually returned to Hush. Records indicate Hush pleaded guilty to a dog at large charge in 2000.
Roberts will be charged with failure to control a vicious dog, the fine for this is $1000 and/or up to six months in jail. The pit bull was not vaccinated. It will be destroyed and tested for rabies.
Richland Ohio
The Richland Public Health Department is looking for a white and brown pit bull wearing a collar. The pit bull bit a person and remains at large. Authorities warn against anyone attempting to restrain the dog.
* * *
3/10/2015
Trenton Ohio
From the "a pit bull's worst nightmare is likely to be his owner" file. Two hikers found a dead pit bull tied to a tree in a remote wooded area of a local park. The pit bull appeared to have strangled himself struggling against the very short cord. One of the hikers had this to say " "It didn't look abused. It didn't look malnourished at all. It looked like a really good looking dog, a healthy dog, but I guess they didn't want it"
The hiker went on to tell the reporter that as he and his cousin were on their way out of the woods they met a man with a small, sick dog that he intended to abandon in the woods to die. The cousins were able to talk the man into taking his dog to a shelter. What is going on in the Woodsdale Park?
* * *
2/23/2015
Xenia Ohio
More from the "a pit bull's worst nightmare his likely to be his owner" file. Kane the pit bull is dead, starved (37 pounds roughly half what Kane would have been expected to weigh), heavily infested with parasites, and frozen. Kane's owner, Jason Michael Smith Jr. was incarcerated and care of Kane was passed to Smith's friend Steven Gale. Kane was being kept at Gale's house but apparently Gale did not bother to care for a dog in his own yard. How much effort would have been involved here?
Neighbors brought food, blankets heated in their dryers, and hay for bedding but were unable to save Kane. Per WHIO "Weeks ago, county animal control agents told the owner to put up tarp to shelter the dog from the biting wind. According to the National Weather Service, record-setting low temperatures registered in the single digits and wind chills were making it “feel like” well below zero."
Xenia is in Green County Ohio. Both Smith and Gale have been charged in the death of Kane the pit bull. Wouldn't mandatory neuter and spay be better than this?
Jason Michael Smith JR. booking photo
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2/3/2015
Berea Ohio
Zora the deaf pit bull is looking for a special home. Zora, housed at the Berea Animal Rescue Shelter for the last six months, has been in training with a shelter trainer. Watch the video, this is a big, 70 pound, two year old, active dog. The trainer remarked "she does need management when she plays, she doesn't know when to stop."
3/10/2015 Zora found her special home. Now known as Zoey, the pit bull is the new companion of a six year old deaf child. Per Cleveland.com "Gilliam had been thinking of getting a dog for about three years, but the right one had not come along. All that changed when Gilliam's mother, Jean Stuart, brought a newspaper article to her daughter's attention. Zoey was the subject of a "Needs a home" feature in the Sun newspapers. "I said, 'Oh my God, Courtney, this is the dog for you!' Mike's deaf, she's deaf, and so we went and looked at her," Stuart says." "Both Gilliam and her mother believe pit bulls do not deserve their reputation for being a "bad breed."
I sincerely hope nothing goes wrong here.
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3/16/2015
DAYTON Ohio
A six year old girl required treatment at Dayton Children's Hospital after she was attacked by a pit bull as she was playing with friends in her neighborhood. The pit bull, owned by Curtis Jones, ran into the street and bit the child on her thigh, requiring seven stitches. The girl's father told a Dayton Daily News Reporter that “Her friends try to pull her on top of a car so the dog couldn’t reach her” “But she couldn’t get away.”
Curtis Jones was arrested and charged with failure to control an animal. No information was given on disposition of the pit bull.
Curtis Jones booking photo
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4/6/2015
DAYTON Ohio
Dayton police were called to the scene of a pit bull attack upon a pregnant woman. Per Fox45 " According to the pregnant woman, who police interviewed later at the hospital, she was approached by two pit bull dogs, which became aggressive. She said she used her coat and purse to prevent one dog from biting her stomach. The other dog, however, bit her hand. Police says she had one cut on her right hand and several cuts on her left hand; however, she was not injured elsewhere.
Police spoke to the resident at the home where the dogs were being kept but a friend of the injured woman stated that the dogs the resident showed to the police were not the pit bulls that attacked her friend. How many pit bulls does the resident have? Might be something Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf could check out.
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4/6/2015
DAYTON Ohio
Dayton police were called to the scene of a pit bull attack upon a pregnant woman. Per Fox45 " According to the pregnant woman, who police interviewed later at the hospital, she was approached by two pit bull dogs, which became aggressive. She said she used her coat and purse to prevent one dog from biting her stomach. The other dog, however, bit her hand. Police says she had one cut on her right hand and several cuts on her left hand; however, she was not injured elsewhere.
Police spoke to the resident at the home where the dogs were being kept but a friend of the injured woman stated that the dogs the resident showed to the police were not the pit bulls that attacked her friend. How many pit bulls does the resident have? Might be something Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf could check out.
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This one is for Steffen
4/4/2015
Hoxie AR
A Hoxie family adopted a pit bull after being told that the pit bull showed no signs of aggression. “She seemed like the sweetest dog I've ever seen,” Hilderbran said. “She was very well mannered and very calm. I'd seen her around other dogs, we watched her around our daughter before, without me holding her and she seemed fine with her.”Three days later the pit bull attacked the four year old daughter. Did relocation change the dog? Apparently not. After attacking the child the pit bull escaped the home and was shot by police due to aggression toward officers. See video.
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3/1/2015
DAYTON Ohio
Back to the "a pit bull's worst nightmare is likely to be its owner" files for this one. Dayton firefighters pulled a pit bull out of a burning vacant home.
This is a pit bull.
Why is a pit bull left behind in a vacant house? My guess would be irresponsible owner. Wouldn't mandatory neuter and spay be better than abandoning pit bulls? Just what Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf needs in his shelter, another abandoned pit bull.
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2/8/2015
DAYTON Ohio
A pit bull, tied in a backyard in Dayton broke free and attacked a passerby. The victim required treatment at a local hospital. The pit bull owner was cited for failure to license his pit bull. The victim plans to press charges. Go for it!
* * *
4/10/2015
Kettering Ohio
In a story you will never see on the news, a Kettering woman is unable to receive home delivery of her mail because the neighbor's Lab runs loose and postal employees feel threatened. Video is included with the story.
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2/7/2015
Columbus Ohio
I don't even know how to describe this one. Keep this guy in mind when you read a comment on a pit bull attack news story. The comment that begins with "well I'm a responsible pit bull owner." Given England's profession he has lots of time during the day to comment on pit bull attacks.
We begin with this quote from the Columbus Dispatch "The South Side man who was shot and wounded yesterday morning by Columbus police was wanted on a charge of beating a man into a coma during a road-rage dispute last fall, police said."
We begin with this quote from the Columbus Dispatch "The South Side man who was shot and wounded yesterday morning by Columbus police was wanted on a charge of beating a man into a coma during a road-rage dispute last fall, police said."
Fast forward to February. When police arrived at the front door to arrest him England ran out the back door of his house. Officers patiently waiting at the back door grabbed England through the partially boarded up and broken door. During the struggle one of the police officers was dragged partially into the home and at this point England's dogs, an American Bulldog and a pit bull rushed the police (what else would someone like this own?) An attempt was made to subdue England with a tazer but the tazer did not connect. England, with one wrist in handcuffs, was able to run back into his house. Police shot at the dogs but found that they had hit England instead. England was seriously wounded and transported to a local hospital
Neighborhood residents were not particularity upset with this. Burglaries and theft in the neighborhood increased dramatically after England moved in last year. England openly admitted to dealing heroin from the house.
One neighbor stated “Traffic in and out of there was ridiculous.” Once while feeding birds and having a cigarette, the neighbor said he was startled by a stranger who ran through his yard carrying a Sony PlayStation. "
England has a police record going back 10 years with convictions for burglary, assault, drug possession, and breaking and entering. The neighbors will not miss him. The pit bull and the American Bulldog were not injured, no mention was made of their final destination. Please watch the video where the neighbor talks about a drug raid at England's house. Mr. England was sure that his neighbors had ratted him out so he threatened to shoot everyone in the neighborhood. A "responsible pit bull owner" for sure.
Booking photo for James England.* * *
3/17/2015
Lima Ohio
Speaking of drug raids we will move on to this one. A "no knock" drug raid was conducted at a home in Lima Ohio. A SWAT team entered the home and shouted for the home owner to cage his pit bull. The story gets odd here. Susan and James Smith claim that after they caged Lulu the pit bull a police officer kicked the cage open allowing Lulu to escape. The Smiths state that Lulu was not aggressive and "would never hurt a fly". Per the Smiths, the dog ran into a bedroom where she was shot five times by a police officer. Lulu then ran into a neighbor's yard where she was shot three more times. "Meanwhile Smith was being beaten by officers."
Police reports indicate the dog was shot three times but the location of that shooting is not noted. No complaints of excessive force by police against Smith or his pit bull have been made to the Allen County Sheriffs Office. Seems like five shots fired in a bedroom would be pretty easy to prove. Both Susan and James Smith have been charged with keeping a disorderly house (they can do that?), resisting arrest, and obstructing official business. Police would not release a statement on drugs found in the home due to the ongoing investigation. Mr. Smith stated that a pound of weed had been found in his home.
Lulu the pit bull was shot and killed by police.
* * *
3/17/2015
Sandusky Ohio
This festive St. Patricks Day story comes from the Sandusky Register. Picture it, there is a discussion between neighbors about couches that had been in the yard of a pit bull owner for weeks. The neighbors are not pleased with the look. Per the Register "In response, the men began exchanging words in the neighbor's yard, while the neighbor was holding onto a leash connected to his pit bull, according to a Sandusky police report. The man then asked his neighbor if his dog was licensed.
“Do you want to get close enough to see? Get him!,” the neighbor allegedly said. It was at that point the dog bit the man on his right hip, the victim claimed."
As the dog owner describes it, the neighbor began swearing at him about the couches. The dog owner stated that he warned the man that his dog was vicious, calling it a Mastiff. This story gets weird too. The pit bull owner claims that his neighbor "kept inching closer and making threatening movements." Somehow this sounds fishy but the pit bull owner went on to claim that he never ordered the dog to attack, the pit bull "only lunged and bit the man because it was protecting its owner."
The prosecutor is reviewing the case.
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4/2/2015
Sandusky Ohio
A civil lawsuit has been filed against Rebecca Hush, who pleaded no contest to a vicious dog complaint but has not yet been sentenced . Per the Sandusky Register "The lawsuit, filed late last year, seeks at least $75,000 of damages for medical expenses, injuries and related losses and an additional $225,000 in punitive damages. The case has been assigned to Common Pleas Judge Tygh Tone. The lawsuit also names Carol Ann Franks, Hush's mother, as a defendant, stating Hush lives with her mother.
The prosecutor is reviewing the case.
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4/2/2015
Sandusky Ohio
A civil lawsuit has been filed against Rebecca Hush, who pleaded no contest to a vicious dog complaint but has not yet been sentenced . Per the Sandusky Register "The lawsuit, filed late last year, seeks at least $75,000 of damages for medical expenses, injuries and related losses and an additional $225,000 in punitive damages. The case has been assigned to Common Pleas Judge Tygh Tone. The lawsuit also names Carol Ann Franks, Hush's mother, as a defendant, stating Hush lives with her mother.
The plaintiff, Paul Aviles, was walking his Jack Russel Terrier at Battery Park when Scooter the JRT was attacked by two pit bulls that had escaped from Hush's yard. Mr Aviles was injured when he tried to protect his little dog. Hush claims that Aviles was tormenting her dogs and trespassing on her property. * eye roll *
I love this photo of Scooter!
More about this story can be found near the end of this 2014 Roundup post. The story came from this Register article. An interesting note on Mr. Aviles, during the struggle to protect his dog he bit one of the pit bulls " I bit him as long and as hard as I could," Aviles said. "They were like demons."
A passerby called police who "battled" the pit bulls, Tazing one of them. That pit bull died. The other pit bull was eventually returned to Hush. Records indicate Hush pleaded guilty to a dog at large charge in 2000.
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4/16/2015
Columbus Ohio
A pit bull attacked a young mother, her three year old child, and an 85 year old man in Columbus, The mother was walking her child to school when "the dog came out of nowhere." Shanna Harvey picked up her child to protect her and "took all the pain." The attack was witnessed by 85 year old John Barnette, Mr. Barnette was unable to assist Shanna Harvey and her little girl because just moments before he had been bitten by the same pit bull. Per ABC6 "Norma Roberts initially told Humane Agents, neighbors and ABC 6/Fox 28 that the dog wasn't hers. "I'm dog sitting," she said. "Their house in Indiana burned down and I opened up my home."
