1/20/2016
Lima Ohio
Allen County
The owner of the pit bulls that attacked an off duty Lima police officer in October has been found guilty on seven counts, including harboring more than one pit bull per residence (Lima regulates pit bulls), and failure to leash or muzzle the two pit bulls involved. Officer Mark Link has been off work for three months and has endured five surgeries.
A victim's Statement was read in court "Unprovoked and irresponsible attack from the defendant's two pit bull dogs. My wife and children have suffered, and the city of Lima community has suffered,"
Douglas Jackson, the pit bull owner faces a maximum of 180 days in jail for each count plus a $1000 fine for each count. I will do the math for you, that is 1260 days in jail and $7000.
Allen County Commissioners honored mail carrier Scott Eversole with a resolution of appreciation for his quick actions stepping in to assist officer Link. Per LimaOhio.com"Scott Eversole was delivering mail in the 900 block of North Elizabeth Street on Oct. 19 when he noticed two pit bulls playing in a yard. He was originally going to leave and complete delivering mail on that part of his route later when he noticed out of the corner of his eye a man leaving his house and going to his car. The man, Lima Police Patrolman Mark Link, was then attacked by the two dogs, who knocked him to the ground and began biting his face.
“I saw that they hit him and were going after him as hard as they could, and he was struggling to get back on his feet,” Eversole said. “It was then I went over with my bag, the best weapon I had, and I took it off my shoulder and began to swing it as hard as I could and knocked them off him enough for him to be able to jump on the car.”
Allen County commissioners present a resolution of appreciation to mail carrier Scott Eversole. Dog warden Julie Shellhammer thanks him for saving the life of a police officer. The appreciation is well deserved, mail carriers are too often the victims of pit bull attacks and Mr. Eversole was well aware of the risks but took action anyway. Well done!
Late update - Douglas Jackson, pit bull owner goes to jail.
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1/20/2016
Cincinnati Ohio
Hamilton County
The wildly pit bull centric Cincinnati SPCA was transferring a pit bull mix between two facilities when a staff member did not follow protocol, leaving the dog alone in a van for 16 hours, in January. The dog was found to be in a hypothermic state and was euthanized. Four staff members were disciplined but have kept their jobs. The Cincinnati SPCA transports 7000 dog a year per WLWTnews. Why were they moving it? The Cincinnati website SPCA shows roughly 130 available pit bulls. There are plenty to go around.
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1/21/2016
DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County
A stray pit bull turned up on the doorstep of a Dayton apartment, parked himself there, menaced residents and did not allow residents to enter or leave their apartments. One resident was forced to delay his trip to the local store, needing formula for his baby and food for his young daughter, to watch a 30 minute ordeal by local police to control the thing. The resident described the dog as a pit bull complete with dog fighter ear trim. Video of the dog backs up this breed identification. The WHIO reporter identified the dog as a Cane Corso. Why? Who can say? The cage card on the pit bull's cage at the Animal Resource Center also identified the thing as a pit bull. The short legs identify the dog as a pit bull. Checking the AKC website, the only markings noted for the breed are masks, not the classic white pit bull chest we see on the dog in the ARC cage. Why play games?
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1/26/2016
Mansfield Ohio
Richland County
A ten year old girl was attacked by dogs that witnesses describe as pit bulls. The girl was walking with friends when the two pit bulls began to chase her, knocking her to the ground and biting her. The girl was able to run home, witnesses chased the pit bulls away with a shovel. The child required hospital treatment for her injuries.
Police were called, a sergeant with the sheriffs department attempted to tase one of the pit bulls but was unsuccessful. The County dog warden's department was able to locate the owner, she is 19 years old. Think she has insurance to cover the little girl's medical bills?
Raina Drescher, pit bull owner stated she owns one of the pit bulls but she "cares for" the other pit bull claiming that it is a neighborhood stray. Per the NewsJournal " (County Dog warden) Jordan said under state law, Deschner qualifies as a keeper and harborer of the stray dog because she admitted to allowing it into her home and feeding it and she never reported the dog to the warden's office." The county dog warden charged Drescher with two counts of having a dog at large and one count of failure to vaccinate. Sounds like the dog warden was not much impressed with the denial of ownership of the second pit bull. Drescher's pit bull was declared a dangerous dog. Insurance, confinement, warning signs, microchip requirement and a special dog license go with the dangerous dog designation.
From the NewsJournal " Jordan said Deschner was surprised to hear her dog acted aggressively as it does not act that way in her home, where she has children.
The warden advised Deschner it is not uncommon for dogs to act differently out of the home and warned her of the dangers of letting the dog loose again. While the charges for a first offense are minor misdemeanors, the severity of charges increases on the second offense."
Checking Mansfield Municipal code I find this information
(4) A. "Vicious dog" means a dog that, without provocation and subject to subsection (a)(4)B. hereof:
1. Has killed or caused serious injury to any person,
2. Has caused injury, other than killing or serious injury, to any person, or has killed another domesticated animal,
(b) Vicious dogs are hereby prohibited within the jurisdictional limits of the City.
Mansfield bans pit bulls. There is a reason that communities ban pit bulls and this pit bull owner needs to be charged with violation of local law.
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1/27/2016
Cleveland Heights Ohio
Cuyahoga County
A pit bull was shot and killed by a Cleveland Heights police officer as it attacked a woman. Per NewsNet5 " An officer said that he responded to a 911 call from a woman who said she was being attacked by a dog.
When the officer arrived, he said she was screaming and a dog was biting her arm. The officer told the woman to drop on the ground and try to separate herself from the dog. The officer tried to separate her from the dog, as well, but they could not.
The officer shot the dog in the neck and it retreated, but then circled back and the officer shot it again, this time in the eye.
The officer called for an ambulance and the woman was hospitalized. The dog died."The pit bull involved in this attack was on home quarantine for biting a child earlier this month. The pit bull owner was cited for harboring a vicious dog and for failure to insure a vicious dog. Yet again, both victims pay their own medical bills.
Click here for the officer's body cam video.
For more on this attack click here, and here. For video of the attack victim and her mother making a call at the police department to thank the police officer who saved her, click here. Watch the victim's reaction as a police dog is led through the room. It is never over for the victim.
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2/29/2016
Newark Ohio
Licking County
A Newark police officer was bitten by a pit bull mix while responding to a call from a citizen about the dog. The complainant stated the pit mix was acting aggressively and apparently made an accurate assessment of the animal's behavior. As the police officer was speaking with the pit mix's owner the officer was bitten by the pit mix. The officer was treated and released at Licking Memorial Hospital. Here is a shocker, the pit mix was not in compliance with Newark's law requiring liability insurance and special dog tags for pit bulls.
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3/8/2016
Cleves Ohio
Hamilton County
An unlicensed pit bull, harbored very near a school, has bitten two people in a week. The first victim was a girl walking home from school. The second victim was a man walking past Worthington's home. The pit bull owner, Vicki Worthington, has offered to pay the medical bills for the victims. I would not hold my breath waiting for a check..She has been cited by the SPCA in the past. Worthington was allowed to keep her two time mauler and she paid her fines. In the first attack the pit bull crawled under a gate to atack the teenager, in the second attack the pit bull burst through the gate to attack the male passerby.
Did anyone learn anything here?
Photos show the male victim's injuries.
For a complete report on this, plus video, please click here. Please note, the linked fox19 article mentions a fatal pit bull attack in the Cleves area. The fatality was not a human, it was a pit bull, with three other pit bulls shot by police. Here is what I had to say about it at the time.
Cleves Ohio
In a story posted August 26, 2013 Fox19 reports that three pit bulls were shot by police, one fatally. This attack did not make local news at the time of the attack but surfaced a week later due to contact between the family of the pit bull owner and Fox 19. The dog owners were looking for support but refused to speak with reporters. The story is pretty outrageous. Per reports, the three pit bulls were at large in the neighborhood and menacing neighbors. A woman who was unable to leave her home due to the dogs menacing presence called the SPCA. SPCA officers responded with police back up. The SPCA officer attempted to collar one of the pit bulls with a "control bar" which was attacked by the remaining two pit bulls. Hang on, there is a lot of story to go here. An elderly man approached and stated that he was the owner, without stating if he owned the dogs or the property. SPCA officers report that they were threatened by the man. I can't improve on this so I will just quote Fox19 " The man allegedly told the officer to leave and said several times he would "bust" the SPCA officer's head. After trying twice to control the dogs with a stick, according to paperwork, that man was then attacked by the dogs.
"At that point, the gentleman picked up a stick and started hitting the dogs or threatening the dogs, or whatever, and the dogs turned on him," Rutzlaff told FOX19.
SPCA officer John Sturgill said in his statement that that man then started screaming "save me" and "help me."
After screaming at the dogs to move along, Sturgill says they charged himself and a deputy, who opened fire. Screaming for law enforcement to shoot your own pit bull as it mauls the hand that feeds it is not uncommon. A change of heart after the fact is not uncommon either. Here is a Facebook page set up to create sympathy for the maulers. The family wants "justice" for their dogs. Has there been any consideration of justice for the neighbors? In statements to police, neighbors have complained that they are afraid to walk outside and one neighbor stated that "the dogs have charged me and my family several times." Per the video report, the SPCA responded same address in July for a complaint that the same dogs were running loose.
For more information please click here.
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3/1/2016
Wauseon Ohio
Fulton County
I have to admit to being completely bored with the continuing drama surrounding Bosco the Biter, harbored by the Lucas County Pit Crew. I was pleased to see that a Fulton County judge has ruled Bosco the Biter dangerous. For more information on this attack click here.
Under current Ohio law a dangerous dog is a dog that has caused injury other that serious injury to a person without provocation, Bosco's bite fit the parameters of the law. Judge Jeffrey Robinson stated "The statute doesn't provide a lot of leeway." The dangerous dog designation brings regulation to the care and placement of Bosco the Biter.
Reading through the Blade article you will come to this clueless quote from Keating speaking about Bosco the Biter " He's been around all kinds of people and all kinds of situations and not once has he shown a bit of aggression." Hellooo? Bosco was declared dangerous because he bit his new owner.
Keating and two others in the Lucas County Pit Crew face legal charges related to the Bosco affair and a jury trial is scheduled for June 24th.
This was Bosco's promotional photo publicly shared on Facebook and by 13abc.com.
For more on this affair please click here, Previous blog posts dealing with the Fulton County/Jean Keating disagreement may be reviewed by clicking here and here.
For video of an interview with Keating please click here. Quoted from the 13 abc.com interview "You know when the life of an animal is at stake you have to speak up" "it is not a crime to speak up and out against an injustice that is your right as an American" stated Jean Keating. It should be kept in mind that when the lives of peaceful people are at stake, at risk because of the thoughtless placement of dogs bred for blood sport with good-hearted people unaware of the danger, it is the right and responsibility of the knowledgeable public to speak up.
For the County Sheriff's department statement click here.
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There is a great deal more Ohio pit bull absurdity to cover but I have and enough for the day. I will end with a Florida story sent to this blog by a reader. An entire neighborhood has been terrorized by a pack of pit bulls owned by a neighborhood resident. A peaceful dog walker was forced to shoot one of the pit bulls to protect his own dog. Nobody wants to shoot a dog but sometimes you have to take action. A 16 year old boy was bitten by the same pit bulls. Local law enforcement has made multiple visits to the pit bull owner's home and written multiple citations totaling thousands of dollars in fines. Per WPTV in West Palm Beach
"Everybody around here would benefit by them being gone with those dogs," John says. "People are afraid to go out their houses."
That frustrated resident (is) getting his wish Monday.
Animal control stepped in - opening up an investigation and removing 5 pit bulls from the home.
"We've been out there, we've issued thousands of dollars in citations, civil fines, and they're still running loose," says Captain Dave Walesky with Animal Control. "They were running loose yesterday. Captain Walesky says despite the fact they've been out to the home multiple times, the laws make it tough to actually remove the dogs. "It's very hard to take someone's animal away from them when it's inside the house. In this case she was willing to allow us to come here." The owner, not wanting to talk to us camera, says two of the dogs were able to dig their way out from behind the fence. She was emotional after their removal, saying her dogs aren't aggressive. "I'm sorry, I'm am so sorry. I don't know what to do to make it better," she tells us. "I'm so sorry. But these dogs...I love them, and they're not bad dogs."
This particular pit bull owner was not sorry until one of her pit bulls was shot and the five other pit bulls were taken from her. Animal control has been out on complaints on this pack of dogs many times, the owner had the opportunity to modify her behavior at any step along the way. That is what she could have done to "make it better" and keep her dogs. Too late for that now.
This particular pit bull owner was not sorry until one of her pit bulls was shot and the five other pit bulls were taken from her. Animal control has been out on complaints on this pack of dogs many times, the owner had the opportunity to modify her behavior at any step along the way. That is what she could have done to "make it better" and keep her dogs. Too late for that now.
Why are the owners of dogs so problematic that an entire neighborhood is held hostage completely unable to view their animals as they exist, dangerous, menacing, biting creatures. The owner of the pack stated "these dogs, I love them... and they're not bad dogs." What might be her definition of "bad dogs" be if hers don't qualify? This is reminiscent of the claim made by Ohio breed advocate Keating speaking of Bosco the Biter"not once has he shown a bit of aggression" in an interview dealing with the legal issues surrounding a bite by the very dog she is talking about. Why can't pit bull owners and advocates connect the dots?
God help us all, this is the problem. In Florida, in Ohio, in every state. The peaceful public has the right to walk their dogs, walk to school, stroll to the mailbox, get in their car to go to the store, and any other peaceful task without being mauled by violent dogs, most often pit bulls.
God help us all, this is the problem. In Florida, in Ohio, in every state. The peaceful public has the right to walk their dogs, walk to school, stroll to the mailbox, get in their car to go to the store, and any other peaceful task without being mauled by violent dogs, most often pit bulls.
