Wrongful death lawsuit against Montgomery County Dog Warden Mark Kumpf filed by the family of Klonda Richey may go to trial.

This is interesting, and appropriate.

Mark Kumpf, Montgomery County dog warden will face a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Konda Richey.   The court's 41 page opinion can be found here.

Per the Courthouse News Service " Mark Kumpf was the dog warden in Montgomery County. Earlier in his career, he emphasized enforcement, writing an average of 100 to 150 citations per month.
     When Kumpf took the Montgomery County job in 2006, he changed from "enforcement mode" to "education mode."
     Only 3.4 percent of calls resulted in citations in the two years before Richey's death, according to an Ohio Court of Appeals ruling filed last week. Also, only 12 of the county's 60,000 dogs were considered "nuisance" or "dangerous" dogs in 2013.
     Richey called the county's animal resource center 13 times about the dogs belonging to Andrew Nason and Julie Custer, but all of her calls were sent to voicemail.
     In one of her calls, Richey said Nason "let his aggressive pit/mastiff run loose while she was walking to work and threatened to let it have her for a treat," her estate claims.
     Richey also reportedly complained that the mailman refused to deliver mail on her street and that a pit bull owner had taken his dog off his chain and ordered it to attack her.

Quick review, Ms Richey made 13 complaints to the Animal Resource Center and 46 calls to Dayton Police.  Click here to read the records of the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. You will find records of sternly worded warning post-it notes left on the door, and animal control officers who knocked on that door.  This is proactive enforcement?  Mr. Kumpf stated to WDTN News that he has no protocol for followup after the sternly worded post-it note is affixed to the dog owner's front door. Per WDTN "Per Numerous warnings were left for the dog owners at 35 East Bruce Avenue, but no action was taken. Kumpf says a warning is simply a notice that an officer responded to a complaint. There’s really no follow-up after that unless the owner calls the Animal Resource Center to find out more.This is the problem, zero follow- up.

Richey asked for a court order of protection but was refused, video available here.  She built this fence, hoping it would protect her.  Unfortunately, it did not.
 

The scene of Klonda Richey's death.

   

 The Second District Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the trial court, that only owners and those who harbor dogs can be held responsible.  It was reported that the Court of Appeals reviewed hundreds of  Ohio cases on liability issues prior to their decision that the family of Klonda Richey's lawsuit may proceed.   . 

Will the family of Jonathan Quarles Jr. file a similar lawsuit? Just six months after the Dayton death of Klonda Richey,  the city of Dayton was again the scene of a violent dog mauling death, this time a seven month old infant visiting from out of state.  The pit bull that killed seven month old Jonathan had previously attacked a mail carrier leading to charges that brought pit bull owner Kimiko Hardy to a mandatory responsible dog owner education class at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, headed by dog warden Kumpf.  Not long after the class Hardy's pit bull attacked a peaceful dog on a leash being walked by Hardy's home.  This attack brought additional charges against Hardy but the case was postponed by the Montgomery County prosecutor.  Why?  No one knows. This same dog very quickly went on to attack and kill Jonathan Quarles Jr. inside Hardy's home.  Hardy was step grandmother to the visiting child.  Hardy was convicted on six felony counts and sentenced to three years in prison.  Hardy's dog was well known to the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, headed by Mark Kumpf, but was allowed to remain in the community and went on to kill a child.  The Quarles family has every right to hold the Montgomery County dog warden responsible for failure to protect the safety of the public.  

Jonathan Quarles Jr.

Dog Warden Kumpf. 
He may be the only dog warden in the United States to have two fatal attacks in his district within a six month time frame.  Was he fired after the first fatal attack?  No.  Was he fired after the second fatal attack?  No.  The Montgomery County commissioners gave him a raise "because he had a  difficult year."

Klonda Richey

Will the charges against Kumpf FINALLY be enough to convince County Dog Wardens in Ohio to elect someone else president of their organization? 

Dayton disgrace

Dayton residents were appalled by the actions of the Montgomery County Commissioners when they refused to fire Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf after the mauling death of Klonda Richey in February of 2014.  Ms. Richey had made dozens of complaints about her neighbor's dogs and the response of the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, headed by Mark Kumpf, was to put sternly worded post-it notes on the front door of the dog owners with absolutely zero follow up.  Klonda Richey also went to the courts for protection but was, astonishingly, refused a protection order and never offered the opportunity to file an affidavit on the dogs.  Klonda Richey made the statement "those dogs are going to kill me" and she was right.  Klonda Richey's violent and bloody death brought international attention to the city of Dayton Ohio.


Photo of the scene of Klonda Richey's death.

Dog warden Kumpf claimed that Ms. Richey's death was a "tragic accident" and despite the public record of Richey's complaints, Montgomery County officials stood behind him.

Fast forward to July of 2014 and Dayton had another fatal dog attack, this time a seven month old baby in Dayton for a family visit.  Click here for more information on the mauling death of Jonathan Quarles Jr. This part is important, the Staffordshire Terrier (pit bull) that killed little Jonathan Quarles Jr. ALSO had a record with the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center.  This one had menaced a mailman and the USPS reported it.  The Montgomery County ARC staff "educated" the owner, yep, that will solve the problem.

Well no, actually it did not solve the problem.  That very same pit bull attacked a leashed dog being walked in the neighborhood.  The Montgomery County ARC responded with charges BUT the hearing on those charges was postponed, for no apparent reason.  Just days after the date of the postponed hearing the pit bull mauled a seven month old baby to death.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Kumpf has to stand alone as the only dog warden in history with TWO fatal attacks in a six month period, all dogs involved having prior histories with county animal control and no definitive action taken.

What is the result?  Glad you asked.  The Montgomery County Commissioners have given Mark Kumpf a RAISE!

In an article titled "Montgomery County dog warden praised after 'difficult year."
From the Dayton Daily News "The head of the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center has received a pay raise based on a good 2014 job evaluation — a move criticized by some residents who say the agency did not do enough to prevent two fatal dog attacks last year.

Mark Kumpf, director of the Animal Resource Center, was given a wage increase of 2.5 percent, from $80,562 a year to $82,576. This decision has angered family members, friends and neighbors of Klonda Richey, who was mauled by two mixed-mastiff dogs in February, 2014, outside her Dayton home.

  Mark Kumpf publicity photo

Klonda Richey had several "difficult years" ending in her violent death.  At only seven months old, Jonathan Quarles never had time for a "difficult year" or the joyous years of a normal childhood.

The family of Klonda Richey has filed a lawsuit against Montgomery County and Mark Kumpf.  The Quarles family has the right to do the same.  I suspect the liability in the Quarles case would be huge since the county had reason to know that their animal control department was not protecting the safety of the residents of the county.

Don't miss the video with this news story on Kumpf's raise.

Mr. Kumpf is a liability to Montgomery County and to the Ohio Dog Warden's Association as well, Kumpf remains president of that organization.  The OCDWA cannot be taken seriously when they retain an internationally disgraced dog warden as their president.    

Lets not forget the victims of Kumpf's failure to act.


Klonda Richey



Jonathan Quarles Jr.

Click here for an interesting bit of video of a Dayton woman who got the sternly worded post it notes on her front door.  Note that Montgomery County ARC never followed up on the tickets AND they did not even respond to her phone calls.

Click here for more thoughts on Montgomery County.

Kumpf got a RAISE based on a good evaluation "after a difficult year"?  What planet do these people come from?