Ohio now proudly ranks second in dog bite claims in the United States. Per Cleveland.com "Although Ohio has the seventh-largest population, it's No. 2 in insurance claims for dog bites.
The Buckeye state last year had 1,009 insurance claims for dog bites, behind only California, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Ohio is ahead of New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan, Texas and Indiana." Please keep in mind that pit bull owners are no longer required to carry insurance so they just skip that step in responsible ownership. Pit bull victims don't get settlements, they just pay the bills for their own attacks.
This post will introduce a new, shorter post format to the Scorched Earth blog. This break with Scorched Earth tradition will serve two purposes.
First, the short post format will reduce reports to the stark basics of life in our state since Representative Barbara Sears allowed lawyers employed by Best Friends Animal Society of Kanab Utah to write law for the State of Ohio.
Second, the short post format will also allow us to clean up the backlog as quickly as possible. It has proven to be impossible to keep up with pit bull mayhem in the state.
Second, the short post format will also allow us to clean up the backlog as quickly as possible. It has proven to be impossible to keep up with pit bull mayhem in the state.
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5/30/2017
Reynoldsburg Ohio
Franklin County and Licking County
A Reynoldsburg police officer was called to a local school for an animal complaint. The officer was menaced by a loose pit bull (Reynoldsburg bans pit bulls). The dog owner was cited for allowing her dogs to run at large AT A SCHOOL. The dog owner refused to accept her citation. Think she has insurance?
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5/8/2017
Dayton Ohio
Montgomery County
A 7-year-old boy was attacked by a pit bull mix and required hospital treatment. Per WHIO News " The victim’s father told police the dog was “an ongoing issue with the residents in the neighborhood.”
This is not surprising, the county dog warden is Mark Kumpf. Police contacted the dog owner, a 22-year-old man who claims to be willing to cover the victim's medical expenses. Don't hold your breath. The claim was made that the dog would be surrendered to the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. Again, don't hold your breath. Think the 22 year old pit bull owner has insurance? Nope, I don't think so either.
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5/28/2017
DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County
An aggressive dog of unreported breed was shot by Dayton Police as it menaced church goers and charged police. A second menacing dog was taken to Mark Kumpf's Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. Video with this story clearly shows a pit bull chained on the property where the dogs were housed. These dogs were known to be aggressive but obviously, Mark Kumpf has yet again, failed to protect the residents of his county.
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5/30/2017
DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County
Dayton police were called to a home where neighbors reported an aggressive dog on the roof. The dog and a second dog at the address were reportedly unlicensed. Montgomery County Animal Resource Center staff left a sternly worded post-it note for the owners. 
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5/2017
Kenton Ohio
Hardin County
A pit bull attacked a leashed dog being walked in a Kenton neighborhood. The pit bull owner was cited for a violation of the city's dangerous and vicious dog ordinance.
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5/29/2017
DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County Ohio
News that you will never hear reported, a Dayton woman was bitten by a Chihuahua. Per the Dayton Daily News "The 34-year-old female victim said she was walking along when a tan and brown small Chihuahua ran toward her. The dog tried to bite her left ankle, but she shook the animal off and ran home. The woman was not injured.
A sternly worded post-it note would be the traditional warning from the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. What kind of warning is given by Dayton Police?
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4/25/2017
Cleveland Ohio
Cuyahoga County
A Cleveland man was attacked by his own pit bull and taken to a Trauma Center for treatment. His condition was listed as serious. The victim's wife stabbed the pit bull to end the attack. The pit bull was confiscated. Here is how News 5 describes the attack "When police arrived on the scene, the wife of the man who was being attacked, Ethel Taylor, had blood splattered across her shirt.
Think this happens to Beagle owners?
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5/8/2017
Defiance Ohio
Defiance County
A 40 year old man shot his girlfriend's pit bull mix in self defense. He attempted to put the thing outside after it tore up his house so it began to attack him. Beagles do this all the time.
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5/17/2017
Mt Vernon Ohio
Knox County
A pit bull was shot while attacking a neighbor's dog, on the neighbor's property. The shots came from a second floor window. The property owner heard the attack in progress and could see two little girls trying to pull the pit bull off the property owner's dog. The property owner felt that the girls and his own dog were in trouble so he took immediate action. The property owner reported the shooting to local police, there were no charges.
As is the norm, the pit bull owner did not see the attack but claimed that the property owner was irresponsible. She also claimed that her dog was not vicious (shot during an attack but not vicious). You can't make this stuff up. Video is available on the link.
Pacman died after he was was shot three times from an upstairs window. He would still be sleeping on the couch if he had been responsibly confined. Don't want your dog shot? Keep him at home.
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5/17/2017
DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County
A pit bull owner let his American Staffordshire Terrier out to prance around the neighborhood on Mother's Day. Boi Boi the Amstaff was shot by a neighbor. Boi Boi's owner did not see the shot because he was not present but theorizes that the neighbor noted Boi Boi at large and went into his home to get a gun. The neighbor stated he did not mean to hit the dog, just scare it away. No charges were filed. Video is available on the link.
Don't want your dog shot? Keep him at home and under your supervision and control.
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5/10/2017
Canton Ohio
Stark County
A 76 year old woman was attacked by a neighbor's bully breed dog when she took her own dog outside. The victim suffered deep bites and required hospital treatment. The bully breed dog was surrendered to local authorities for euthanization. Stark County dog warden Jon Barber offers the classic excuses for the attack. "I’m sure the dog could’ve been a very nice dog, but I’m not sure the environment that the dog came from, it ever had an opportunity. These bully-type dogs get a bad stereotype, but realistically, it’s the circumstances of how they were raised and how they’re brought up that led to this. It’s upbringing and social environment (that matter). This dog (is believed to have been) isolated, not socialized. So when it got loose, it reacted this way.”
Why do dog wardens repeat this crap? They are paid to protect the safety of the public. Who will pay the victim's medical bills?
Think there is insurance?
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6/22/2017
Columbus Ohio
Franklin County
A Columbus police officer, serving a warrant on a known drug house in that city, was attacked by a pit bull. The pit bull was shot in self defense. Per 10tv "The woman they were looking for initially came to the door, but then retreated inside. The officer followed her inside, at which point he says a pit bull was “put on” him.
Funny how Beagles do not figure into stories like this.
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7/24/2017
Bellefontaine Ohio
A child looking for permission to search for his lost drone was attacked by two pit bulls harbored at a Belfontaine residence. The boy was transported to a hospital for treatment of wounds to his face, arms, chest, groin, and back. The pit bull owner was cited for two counts each of dog at large and failure to vaccinate. Per the Bellefontaine Examiner "The dogs were taken from the residence by the Logan County Dog Warden, who later reported one of the dogs became extremely aggressive as he removed it from his pickup truck to a kennel. It broke its metal collar and ran off."
This is not a dog that should be tolerated at large in the community.
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7/30/2017
DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County
More news from Dog Warden Mark Kumpf's neighborhood. Dayton police shot a pit bull after it attacked THREE Dayton residents.
A Dayton police officer heard a woman screaming for help. Th woman, covered in blood, told two officers that there were others in a home being attacked by the dog. The officers could see the menacing pit, covered in blood, as it approached them aggressively. The pit bull was shot in the nose. Medics found a second victim in the yard of the house.
Police made the decision to terminate the threat and euthanize the dog. Later interviews with the victims revealed an attack earlier in the day by the same pit bull upon a third victim. Per WHIO " An interview with the dog bite victims revealed the dog had bitten a man earlier in the day in an unrelated domestic dispute. After the incident, the dog tried jumping on the owner and accidentally ripped a toenail off, which the owner said caused the dog to be upset “ever since.”
Police made the decision to terminate the threat and euthanize the dog. Later interviews with the victims revealed an attack earlier in the day by the same pit bull upon a third victim. Per WHIO " An interview with the dog bite victims revealed the dog had bitten a man earlier in the day in an unrelated domestic dispute. After the incident, the dog tried jumping on the owner and accidentally ripped a toenail off, which the owner said caused the dog to be upset “ever since.”
Mark Kumpf's staff arrived to remove the corpse.
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7/4/2017
Cleveland Ohio
Cuyahoga County
A six-year-old girl was admitted to Cleveland Metro in critical condition after she was attacked by the family pit bull. Two adult females were also attacked. The pit bull was shot by an off-duty Cuyahoga County sheriff's officer. Handy to have someone close by to shoot the pit bull. But wait, it becomes even handier, the off duty officer was a resident of the household and he was the owner of the dog. Both the owner, Michael Shaw Jr. and his pit bull have a record of charges in another northern Ohio community. Per Cleveland 19 News "Records from Euclid Municipal Court show Michael Shaw Jr. was cited in February 2016 for five dog-related offenses. Shaw received citations for dog running at large, excessive animal noise, failing to register his animal, failing to provide the dog with adequate food and water, and nuisance activities involving an animal. The nuisance activities charge was amended to a disorderly conduct charge in July 2017, which Shaw pleaded guilty to. All other charges against Shaw were dropped.
According to the incident report obtained from Euclid Police, Shaw's white and brown pit bull was repeatedly getting out of his backyard. On February 21, 2016, the dog was running wild in the neighborhood and police responded to the home. Prior to police arriving, a neighbor was able to get the dog back into the yard, and used trash cans to block yard's entrance. The dog escaped again and the neighbor called police back to report the dog out yet again.
Shaw went to court for the citations and the dog was "moved out of the city" according to the Euclid Municipal Court docket.
Anastasia Highsmith, six-year-old victim.
After the attack on Anastasia, neighbors want aggressive dogs out of their neighborhood. Per the 19 new story " Two neighbors spoke about the aggressive dog problem on their street, saying there are at least half a dozen pit bulls on the block and they all seem aggressive. Lee Covert has lived on W. 22nd Street his entire life and can’t understand the need for aggressive dogs in the neighborhood. According to Covert, the same dog that attacked on July 4 had recently gotten loose and police were called because a neighbor couldn’t get into her car."
What are elected officials thinking when they allow breed advocates to block regulation of dangerous dogs and create unsafe neighborhoods? Was allowing a proven irresponsible pit bull owner to simply move his dangerous pit bull to another community an acceptable solution? Not from a public safety point of view. Cleveland's dangerous dog law is clearly written but poorly enforced. Required insurance appears to be completely ignored. After the attack on Anastasia, neighbors want aggressive dogs out of their neighborhood. Per the 19 new story " Two neighbors spoke about the aggressive dog problem on their street, saying there are at least half a dozen pit bulls on the block and they all seem aggressive. Lee Covert has lived on W. 22nd Street his entire life and can’t understand the need for aggressive dogs in the neighborhood. According to Covert, the same dog that attacked on July 4 had recently gotten loose and police were called because a neighbor couldn’t get into her car."
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We will return to this mess shortly.
