Pit bull roundup 9/2/2016 Pit bulls attack at schools, at cookouts, attack visitors in the home, attack at yard sales, attack police, attack children on bikes and children on porches, and pit bull advocates complain of discrimination.

Here is a sample of the backlog of Ohio pit bull attack news stories.  If my demise depends upon being caught up on pit bull attacks in Ohio I will live forever.

7/7/2016

Elyria Ohio

Lorain County

An Elyria High School coach and assistant principal rescued four of his players from an attack by a pit bull mix  just outside the school.  The dog chased, and bit the four players.  Coach Brett Heighberger reacted quickly.  Per Newsnet5 "Police said soccer coach and Elyria High School assistant principal Brett Heighberger held down a large brown pit bull mix by the neck while sitting on the dog’s body, all in an attempt to keep the dog from charging his players.

“I’m just doing what I would normally do," Heighberger said. "I’m the assistant principal there. I’m the head coach. My job, my number one job, is to make sure the kids are taken care of and in a safe place."

The players were treated and released. The pit mix was taken to the County shelter.  If the dog's owner is not located the dog may be euthanized. 

Thanks Coach Heighberger!

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6/10/2016
Lorain Ohio
Lorain County 

A six year old boy was bitten in the face by a friend's pit bull while visiting the home of that friend. The Morning Journal reported " An officer responded to a Euclid Avenue home where the boy’s father said the boy was playing with another 6-year-old boy at another Euclid Avenue home. A short time later, the boy returned home crying with the dog bite.

The dog’s owner said when the bite occurred, he was upstairs at the home where the boys were playing, and the dog usually was friendly with the boy, the report said.

The boy was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center for treatment."

 It was reported that the pit mix was in heat, this is not an acceptable excuse.  The "nanny dog" strikes again. 

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7/2/2016

Cincinnati Ohio

Hamilton County

An eight year old boy was bitten by a family pit mix while at a cookout with his father's relatives.  The child was not treated for over an hour while family members attempted to treat the bites by running water over them.  After failure of this inappropriate treatment the mother received a phone call from a guest at the party informing her of her son's injuries.  The mother was at the hospital waiting when her son arrived.  There have been no offers of help from those responsible for the pit bull mix. 

When police went to the home to investigate, SURPRISE! The dog was not there.  

Click here to step into the Emergency Room with  video of the treatment of this child.  He cries but bravely endures. Impressive child!  Why are we putting our children at risk?  Why do pit bull owners feel free to turn their backs on their responsibilities and go on to hide the mauler?  

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5/11/2016
Oberlin Ohio 
Lorain County

A fourteen year old boy was attacked by his neighbor's pit bull as the boy was sitting on his own front porch.  Per the Morning Journal "Officers responded to Mercy Allen Hospital in Oberlin around 10:40 a.m. where they learned from the victim and his father that a white dog with brown spots that is believed to be a pit bull attacked the boy while he was sitting on the stoop by the front door of his apartment. According to the report, several blood spots and a significant puddle of blood were located in the front door to the victim’s residence.

The victim’s father and residents in the area believed this was not the first time the dog had bitten someone.

Police attempted to contact the dog owner but were unable to do so.  It is expected that the pit bull will be euthanized. 

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6/3/2016

Fremont Ohio
Sandusky county 

The Sandusky County Sheriffs Office reported a Chihuahua was killed by a pit bull.  The little dog crawled under a fence into the yard where the pit bull was harbored.  Chances that the Chihuahua would have died if the neighbor harbored a Beagle are remote.   


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7/6/2016
Avon Lake Ohio
Lorain County

In an attack you will never hear about, a West Highland White Terrier was mauled as it was being walked by a neighbor and two children.  The Terrier was later euthanized due to the severity of his injuries.  The attacking dog was a shepherd mix.  The owner of the shepherd mix was cited and the dog was designated a dangerous dog through the Avon Lake Civil Court. 

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5/2016
Kenton Ohio
Hardin County

Per Kenton Today "Information from the Kenton Police Department report states that an aggressive dog was in the area of the 1100 block of South Detroit St. The Pit Bull allegedly attempted to bite a women who was holding a yard sale.

It was determined that the dog belonged to a residence on Letson Ave. Nobody was at home at the time and the dog was found running in the middle of the street on Letson Ave. The Hardin County Dog Warden was contacted and the dog was apprehended.

The owner of the Pit Bull dog was issued a summons for failing to properly confine a vicious dog."

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3/15/2016
Lakewood Ohio
Cuyahoga County

Lakewood officials have decided to allow Scrappy the pit bull to remain in the community.  Lakewood has a pit bull ban but it was claimed that Scrappy was an assistance dog for a child with cystic fibrosis.

A privacy fence must be erected on the property where Scrappy is harbored and Scrappy must be muzzled in public. 

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3/21/2016
Dover Ohio
Tuscarawas County

A pit bull was euthanized after it attacked an Urichsville K9 officer as he was responding to a call about the near attack of a child.  Sounds like the person who called this in had great instincts.  Officer Hickman required stitches to his right hand after the dog bit him as he attempted to defend himself.

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2/28/2016
Dover Ohio
Tuscarawas County

On Feb. 28, a Dover police officer fatally shot a dog that he said charged him while he was responding to a call that the 100-pound dog entered a neighbor's backyard and attacked the neighbor's dog.    

According to two police reports on the incident, John Tucker, a Race Street resident, told officers his leashed 3-year-old pit boxer was attacked by the pit bull while in his backyard. He said a nearby resident was walking his three dogs, each without a leash, and one of the dogs — the pit bull — ran into his yard and attacked his pit boxer. Officers noted Tucker’s dog had visible blood on its ear and face. Tucker's neighbor called police after the attack.

Tucker said the owner of the three dogs has often walked his dogs without a leash, a claim the neighbor who called police backed up. "It's very irresponsible," Tucker said. "It's dangerous."

 A Dover police officer responding to Tucker's call went to the home of the pit bull owner. 
SURPRISE!  The pit bull owner was nowhere to be found but the dogs were in the yard.  Per the Times-Reporter   "One of the responding Dover police officers walked to E. Sixth Street to speak with the owner of the pit bull that attacked Tucker's dog. The officer was unable to immediately find the owner, but saw the three dogs in the owner's backyard walking in a fenced area. The officer wrote in his report that one of the dogs, similar in stature to a bull mastiff, began charging him and was not on a leash or in an enclosure.

"Its ears were pulled back, snarled, and showing all teeth and gums as it barked," the officer wrote in his report. "I identified this as an aggressive posture. I anticipated the dog taking me down."

The officer ran away from the dog to increase the distance between him and the aggressive animal. According to police reports: A mother was playing with her children in a nearby yard; the officer said he wanted to protect the family and "squared up with the dog with knife in hand."

The woman yelled at her children to get on the trampoline to avoid the dog. At that point, the officer said he noticed the two other dogs approaching him.

"I pulled my firearm and feared one or all of the dogs would attack, taking me to the ground, and then mauling me," the officer wrote in his report. "I held off on firing in case the dogs would suddenly stop, but the black dog continued. As it neared me, within 1.5 to 2 feet, I fired on the dog two shots as center mass as possible, as the dog was running perpendicular toward me."

The dogs ran back into the owner's yard, the dog that was shot died.  More from the Times -Reporter " I think the Dover Police Department handled the situation very well and in the best way they could," Tucker said. "If people don't like the way things are handled with the police, don't put yourself in the situation. I feel bad for the dog (that died). The dog didn't have to lose its life if the owner took proper precautions." The dog's owner could not be reached for comment."

Common sense from Mr. Tucker. 

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4/19/2016

Greenville Ohio

Darke County 

The family of a 13 year old boy knocked off his bike and  bitten by a pit bull want changes in local regulations dealing with biting dogs.  Per the Daily Advocate "Shawn Crumrine, the father of the victim, spoke to the Darke County Board of Commissioners during its Monday session. Crumrine said he was also planning to address the Greenville City Council on the same topic during its Tuesday night meeting.

“I’d like for the city and county to amend their ordinances on how it handles dogs that bite,” he said, suggesting that a dog which bites a person should be placed under immediate and indeterminate quarantine in custody of the Darke County Animal Shelter until a court can make a determination on its danger to the public.

 Greenville police reports indicate the boy was chased and  bitten by two dogs, one of them a pit bull.  The dogs were unlicensed and have bitten before, several times.  One of these was a postal worker.  It  was reported that the owner of the dogs, Jamie Hensil, was told to have his dogs put down but did not comply.

 The boy received 30 stitches and endured a series of rabies injections.  He, and other children in the household remain traumatized. The family has filed a civil lawsuit against the owner of the two dogs, they seek restitution and punitive damages.  It is appropriate to demand accountability.  

In this case the dogs were home quarantined.  Crumrine says in addition to having biting dogs quarantined by the county, he would like to see a “biting dog” registry established, tracking dogs which bite people, particularly within a school zone or public park."  

Makes sense to me.

Photos of the boy's injuries.  This was not a simple dog bite, t his child was mauled as he rode his bike home.  

This story  is a segue to more, per Bluebag Media "Just a couple weeks before the Greenville biting incident, local residents became aware of an online petition asking Darke County Animal Shelter to revise its policy on euthanizing pit bull-type dogs. The petition appears on the website change.org. People from across the United States have signed the petition and called the animal shelter.

Darke County Animal Shelter Director Duane Sanning has been fielding these calls, but is not comfortable with changing the county’s policy.

“How can I adopt out a pit bull to a family with kids, with another dog of a family cat without being able to evaluate them?” he told The Early Bird last week.

Sanning said most temperament testing procedures “have been proven to the degree of yes you do or no you don’t.” 

Hold this thought. 

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4/17/2016

Greenville Ohio

Darke County   

A petition was posted on the mostly ignored website Change.org by Columbus pit bull advocate Luke Westerman. The petition asks Darke County commissioners to change their "discriminatory" policies at the Darke County Shelter so pit bulls can be adopted out  to the public.  Why is Mr. Westerman, a resident of Franklin County making demands in Darke County?  Good question, I have no answer. 

The Dark County commissioners support the work done by County Dog Warden Duane Sanning.  Per Bluebag Media " “I just wish people would find the facts out before commenting,” said Commissioner Diane Delaplane. Especially those who believe the county shelter is rushing to kill dogs instead of attempting to either find their owners or place them for adoption. “They’re making statements that just aren’t true.”

Commission chairman Mike Stegall agrees.

“His (Sanning) policy is very, very satisfactory. Duane is very sensitive about the pit bull issue. He’s gone over the limit (required number of days to keep a dog at the shelter) trying to work with them. Animals are treated well by our shelter. He’s following the guidelines and goes above and beyond.”

Ohio policy states that unlicensed dogs brought to the shelter are to be kept for three days; while licensed dogs may be kept up to 14 days in hopes of finding their owners.

The Darke County Shelter spends a lot of resources, Sanning said, promoting dogs they have for adoption – with a radio spot, newspaper advertising and on the shelter’s website.

“Our adoption rate is 85 percent, the best in the state. Other shelters run about 45 percent,” Sanning explained.

Sanning said he has concerns about adopting out pit bulls or other aggressive dogs.

“The problem I have with pit bulls is the damage they do when they bite,” he said, noting that the breed originally was bred to fight. “How do I know they will not end up in a fighting ring in California?”

“The story, I think is simple. A golden retriever is a retrieving dog – it’s their instinct. A border collie is a herding dog. Pit bulls are a fighting breed. It’s in their DNA. They were bred to fight bears and other large animals. There’s just no way to know.”

Conducting temperament testing for dogs also is questionable, Sanning believes.

“None of them (tests) have been proven to the degree of yes you do or no you don’t,” he said. 

There are no plans to change policy in Darke County. Pickaway County got a very similar petition from Change.org.  Pickaway County does not  adopt pit bulls out  directly to the public either. The writer acknowledges that while no pit bulls have been euthanized in the County shelter due to space concerns in the last TWO YEARS this "discriminatory" policy MUST be changed.  Lets review, no pit bulls have been put down in two years, when pit bulls are available for the public nobody wants them anyway, they languish for months to years because the peaceful public reads actual news from actual news sources, the county commissioners are satisfied with the status quo but the discrimination must end.  I don't get it.          

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8/27/2016

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma  

This is as good a place to put this as any other, it is not local but it illustrates the perils of pit bulls. If you want to harbor these dogs you will be held accountable for them.  The owner of five pit bull mixes that killed a sixty year old man has been charged with second degree manslaughter. Edgar Brown, the victim was killed in his own yard by the pit mixes owned by Juan Marcos Diaz.

The victim's brother has filed a lawsuit against Diaz.  "The lawsuit says Diaz “failed in his duty to keep his vicious, fierce and/or dangerous dogs from assaulting Edgar Brown.”

Dexter Brown's attorney, Noble McIntyre, said the lawsuit isn't about money but about sending a message.

“Sometimes cases are about collectibility and sometimes cases are about accountability, and this is one that's about accountability,” McIntyre said Friday.

“There's no money in this for me. ... There won't ever be any money. There's no insurance policy.

“At some point, you have to hold these people accountable and send a message to the community as a whole that you're not going to be able to hide behind the fact that you don't have an insurance policy. You still are responsible,” McIntyre said.

“I'm going to go forward with the lawsuit for one purpose: to get a great big verdict, even though it's not collectible, to send a message ... to other dog owners.”

Accountability, yes!


Booking photo for Juan Marcos Diaz.  The maximum sentence for second degree manslaughter in Oklahoma is four years in prison, the minimum sentence is two years in prison.  Not enough in my opinion but it's a start.  If you want to harbor pit bulls you will be held accountable.