Ohio Pit Bull Roundup, installment #1

This is a ragged collection of Ohio pit bull attacks.  It is very difficult to keep up with Ohio pit bulls.  There is no explanation for the failure of any logical order here other than the sheer numbers of incidents.  This post will have to be broken into several manageable installments.  Please enjoy installment #1.

                                                                        * * *  

The verdict is guilty in the case of a Toledo couple charged after the pit bull attack on a mentally disabled woman living in their home.  The victim, Susan Demski, was the sister of Norman Demski who was found guilty on charges of patient endangerment, a first degree misdemeanor.  He faces up to six months in jail.

Norman's wife Susan faces up to a year in prison on charges of attempted assault.


Norman and Susan Demski


The Demski home.

For more information please click here.


                                                              * * *

3/3/2015
Toledo Ohio

Here is an update on Jovie the underweight pit bull puppy in Toledo Ohio.  At 8 months old Jovie is now up to 19 pounds and is described by the Toledo Blade as "feisty".  This is the Toledo Blade so Jean Keating is heavily quoted for those who follow Ms. Keating's breed specific advocacy.

Late update.  Jovie has died following surgery to correct intestinal malformations.

                                                            * * *

3/3/2015
Warren Ohio

Let me know when this story makes sense.  A 25 year old woman was bitten on the hip by a brown and white pit bull.  She was still bleeding when police arrived at the scene.  A police officer spotted the pit bull with a second dog nearby (breed of the second dog was not reported).  Both dogs were reportedly aggressive and were very close to a church where a funeral was in progress and 80 people were standing outside.  One dog was snared by police, the brown and white pit bull ran to a nearby house.  An officer spoke to the owner of the house, she is also apparently the owner of both dogs.  She told police that she can't control the dogs, they don't have their vaccinations, they are not licensed, there is no insurance AND she can't afford the $56 fee to surrender the dogs to the Trumbell County dog kennel so police LEFT THE DOGS WITH HER.  What?????  

This statement comes from Gwen Logan, executive dog warden for the Trumbell County dog kennel “Dog wardens in Ohio have the authority to take stray animals. By law we don’t have to take owner dogs,” Logan said. She added that animal-rescue organizations are the place to turn to if someone has a dog that they can’t afford and can’t handle.

How is the safety of the public served when vicious dogs are left with incompetent dog owners BECAUSE they are incompetent, irresponsible, and financially incapable of taking care of their dogs?

                                                           * * *

3/3/2015
Middletown Ohio



Residents of Mark Kumpf's territory came up with this interesting attack story.   A two year old girl was reportedly bitten by a neighborhood dog while building a snowman with her father in the backyard of her grandparent's home in Middletown.  The father, Tyler Smith, of Dayton, told police that he grabbed the dog by the neck and choked it until it released his daughter. Quite the hero. Smith then drove his child to a local medical facility, the child was transported to Dayton Children's Hospital where she received 80 stitches to her face.

A local resident was cited for dog at large but she stated that her dog was confined at home at the time of the attack but had been at large earlier in the day.  Per Scott.net " Today, police told this news outlet that the family may have devised their story in order to spare the family pet. 

"We received further information last night," said Middletown Police Major Mark Hoffman. "At this point, we believe it was the family dog, the victim's own dog bit her." 

According to a police report, Kimberly Brumett-Smith told police that Tyler Smith, her son, sent her a text message telling her not to tell the truth to the police. Brumett-Smith told police it was actually her dog, which she described as a brown pit bull, that bit her granddaughter in the face at her residence. 

"We will be looking at withdrawing the charges on the other dog (owner), if we can determine it was not indeed running loose," Hoffman said. 

An anonymous caller told police that "several people who were present in the residence on Woodlawn had made up the story so that they would not get in trouble and that their dog will not be taken," according to the police report." 


The Smith Family.


Monroe Smith

The Journal News tells us that Monroe Smith's parents had plans for her to enter beauty pageants prior to the pit bull attack that scarred her face.  

                                                                       * * *

3/5/2015
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation

This will just make your day if you are an Ohio taxpayer.  A convicted murderer won a judgement against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation because he was bitten by a dog that was part of a state prison adopt-a-dog program.   It is possible that the dog mentioned in this Toledo Blade article is the dog in question, if not they it was a program just like Toledo's.  Here is a quote from an article on dogs in the program "One that had gone for behavior-modification training with the Prisoners Helping Dogs program at Toledo Correctional Institution bit his inmate trainer over a toy and was killed."

Background on the Behavior Modification Program.  Toledo is possibly the most pit bull positive city in the world, absolutely the most pit bull positive in Ohio.  Toledo is also over run with pit bulls that find themselves in the Lucas County Canine Care and Control facility run by Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle.  A quote from the Blade "With less than a week remaining, a 60-day pilot program at Lucas County Canine Care & Control to cut down on the killing of food-guarding dogs has resulted in more dogs killed than saved.  “We have mixed results at this point,” shelter Director Julie Lyle said. “We’re going to finish it out and see what we’ve got,” she said. The program that began March 5 provides constant access to food, a technique called free-feeding, for dogs that freeze or growl over a food bowl but who do well in all other areas of their behavior evaluations."

Dogs in shelters are temperament tested prior to being offered for adoption.  Part of the protocol tests the dog's behavior around food.  For public safety reasons dogs behaving in an aggressive manner and failing the test are not offered to the public, may be offered to rescues (who then offer the dogs to the public)  or may be euthanized.  Julie Lyle's job is to protect the safety of the public and she has done her job responsibly by humanely euthanizing dogs failing the behavior assessment.

Please read the linked Toledo Blade article for more information and lunacy.  Please note the slant on long suffering Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle.  She is doing the job she was hired to do folks.

As usual, I have digressed.  Back to Vincent Doan, age 42, serving a life sentence for the kidnapping and aggravated murder of his girlfriend in 1996.  Doan filed a negligence lawsuit against prison officials after he was attacked by a dog at the Correctional Reception Center.  Per the Columbus Dispatch " Doan claimed he suffered permanent disfigurement and nerve damage when he was mauled by the dog, losing part of his nose and receiving a hole in his cheek. 
He claimed prison officials were aware the dog was vicious and were negligent in allowing inmates to care for the animal. Inmates are assigned to care for and train homeless dogs that then are made available for adoption by the public." 

Doan will receive a $7500 settlement.

Taxpayers are picking up all the bills here, Doan will be a taxpayer liability for as long as he lives. Taxpayers are paying the bills for municipal shelters and the programs they run.  Taxpayers usually pay the bills for attack victims, medical bills for pit bull attack victim Zainabou Drame total roughly a million dollars with no end in sight.  Taxpayers will pay the settlement to Doan.  Money well spent? I don't think so.  Some dogs can't be saved, they are, for whatever reason, not suited for life in our communities.  They are dangerous and "training" to pass behavior evaluations is wasting taxpayer dollars and puts the public at  risk.  


                                                                 * * *

12/13/2014
DAYTON Ohio

A twelve year old Dayton child reported that he was charged and chased by two dogs described as pit bulls as he was walking to school.  The boy was able to make it back home, his father had to take his son to school. Animal Control reported that the dogs were pit bulls and were not licensed. It is not clear if the Animal Control officers were employed by the city of Dayton or the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center run by Montgomery County dog warden Mark Kumpf.

The pit bull owner was cited and a hole in the owner's fence was found that allowed the pit bulls to escape and menace the public.   Shocking that this would happen in Dayton.
 

                                                                        * * *

2/1/2015
DAYTON again.

Here is the story.  A 14 year old boy took his pit bull, named "Menace", for a walk.  The boy's mother reported that a neighbor's pit bull, named "Jada" ran from a backyard and attempted to bite her son.  The boy told police that before Jada could lunge at him Menace jumped into action, positioning himself between Jada and the boy.  At this point Jada attacked Menace, biting Menace on the side of his head.  Jada's owner ran from his house and was able to take his mauler home.

Menace displayed a punctured ear with part of the ear missing.

Jada's owner told police that he was in his yard grilling dinner with Jada off leash and free to roam.  Jada ran out of  the yard and down the street to attack Menace.  Jada's owner was bitten while trying to regain control of the charming Jada.   Jada's owner was cited.  Shocking that this would happen in Dayton.


                                                                        * * *

1/29/2015
Cincinnati Ohio

While Cincinnati pit bull advocates lobby for laws soft on pit bulls, pit bull victim Brandon Williams of Newport Tennessee was driven to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati for surgery to improve his hearing since both of his ears were torn off in a pit bull attack.  Reports indicate that teh surgery was successful.  In August 2011 Brandon was carrying packages to a neighbor's home when he was attacked by the pit bulls.  This was Brandon's fifth surgery.

Shriners members transport patients to the hospital and back home, all costs for treatment and surgeries are paid by the Shriners. This is a very fine organization, fine hospital, very worthy of support by the public.  I am proud that my family members honor my birthday and Christmas with contributions to the Shriners Hospital for Children made in my name.  This pleases me very much.


Brandon Williams, honor roll student and pit bull victim.

                                                                        * * *

12/23/2014
Youngstown Ohio

From the "wouldn't mandatory neuter and spay be more humane than this?" files.  A pit bull was found at large in the McGuffey Road area with an arrow in his face, just below his right eye.  Rick Tunison of the Mahoning County Dog Warden's office stated the pit bull is expected to make a full recovery after surgery. It is not known who shot the dog, a neighborhood resident claims to own it.  For video of the capture please click here.  This pit bull does not appear to be troubled by the arrow even a little bit. Capture of the dog took about an hour and involved police, humane agents, and a deputy dog warden.  The costs of efforts like this are not recognized by those who claim that breed specific legislation is expensive for taxpayers.
 

                                                                 * * *

I will try to make the Ohio pit bull roundup a weekly event.  It gets out of control very quickly.

Lunacy in Toledo

One learns to expect outrageous dog advocacy stories from Toledo but this one is so far out there it requires its own blog post.  We will cover a lot of ground, from the Vatican to Toledo with a stop in Arizona.

Very recently it was reported that Pope Francis remarked to a child grieving the loss of his dog that heaven is open to all creatures and that the boy would see his dog again.  Toledo Councilman Jack Ford, former mayor of Toledo and a non Catholic, took that and ran with it. Ford wants "death row dogs" to get a "second chance" and wants dog warden Julie Lyle to hire an outside evaluator to assess the dogs.  Ford said per the Toledo Blade "“When the Pope made that comment, that just did it for me. ... There is nothing wrong with being progressive to help any living creature,”

   

Councilman Ford.

Reality check, dogs are on "death row" for a reason, aggression, illness, old age with disability.  In Toledo that decision to euthanize at Lucas County Care and Control is made by Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle.  Lyle was hired as county dog warden succeeding former dog warden Tom Skeldon with the blessing of the Toledo Blade. A little history here, The Toledo Blade, in association with Toledo area pit bull advocate Jean Keating,  participated in a lengthy campaign  to drive former Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon from office because of his protocols for dealing with pit bulls. This quote is from Jean Keating "the only way to end it, once and for all, in Ohio was to remove Tom Skeldon. That became my mission and consumed much of my time for about two years."

Lets look at what Julie Lyle is sending to "death row."  The Toledo Blade runs a daily feature, "Lucas County Dogs for Adoption" which also lists dogs euthanized at the shelter.  Today is  12/16/2014 and here is the list of euthanized dogs.  First is a pit bull, stray, brought in by animal control, bit someone in the community.  Second, a pit bull that failed the behavior evaluation, brought in by police, a stray.  Third, a Chihuahua mix with a severe injury, a fear biter and a stray.  Number four, a pit bull, owner surrender, failed behavior evaluation.  Number five, another pit bull failing the behavior evaluation, a stray.  Sixth, a Boxer, failed the behavior eval, owner surrender. Seventh, a Beagle in extremely poor physical condition, emaciated and unable to stand, an owner surrender. The final dog on the list is another pit bull, a stray, failed the behavior evaluation, brought in by a citizen.  No rescue group stepped forward to take these dogs.  Does anyone think that like these, failing behavior evaluations, and dogs too badly injured, or too old and sick to be humanely kept by their owners should be returned to the community?  

Councilmen Mike Craig and Rob Ludeman have taken leave of their senses and agree with Ford.   The three held a news conference stating "said the pound should consider “a stronger sense of basic fairness,” or due process, for dogs before the canines are killed."  “I would like the dog warden to implement a pilot program for dogs, similar in concept to the guardian ad litem program we currently have for children, that would take the dog warden and her team out of the role of total evaluator, prosecutor, and ultimately executioner, and bring in an individual from the outside to evaluate the dog prior to final disposition of its life,”


Councilman Ludeman

Councilman Craig

The zany trio suggest that the guardians ad litem be volunteers, amateurs, like say, Jean Keating the well known and high profile pit bull advocate.  Keating has not been suggested for this position, only my opinion on this part.  

Long suffering Lucas County dog Warden Julie Lyle has said that no such program exists  in any shelter and that the Lucas County shelter already has four evaluators on payroll.  Per the Blade “There’d be absolutely no reason to have outside folks do it when we have the most certified evaluators than any shelter I’ve ever seen,” “I think it’s important that we have trained, certified evaluators that know dogs, and that’s what we have.”

The Blade goes on to the mandatory quote from Jean Keating, her thoughts on the souls of pets.

At this point I would like to mention a pilot program already in place at the Lucas County shelter dealing with dogs failing the behavior evaluations.  Dogs failing the food guarding portion of the behavior evaluation are given additional time in the shelter and are free fed in an effort to reduce food guarding behaviors.  After a week the dogs are reassessed and if improvement is noted they get another week. Rescues are involved in this process and they will receive an incentive of $100 for each dog they take from the program and the $50 transfer fee is waived.  Of the first 27 dogs participating in the study eighteen failed to improve and were euthanized, six went to rescues ($600 paid in incentives and a total of $300 in waived transfer fees) and three more are still at the shelter.  

One dog that failed in the program was being rehabilitated at the Toledo Correctional Institute through the Prisoners Helping Dogs program.  The dog bit his inmate trainer in an aggressive response over a toy and was euthanized. When the prison population is being bitten by dogs being groomed for re entry into the community we have a problem.  Shout out to Mickey the mauler and Sheriff Joe Arpiao and a link to the Mickey cam.  For those who might be aware of the story here, Mickey mauled a small child and was expected to be euthanized.  Pit bull advocates went wild demanding that Mickey should live out his life in comfort. Mickey will live out the remainder of his life in luxury at a no kill shelter run by Sheriff Joe Arpiao.  



Here is a photo of Mickey's victim, Kevin Vincente as he is today.


Here is Kevin after his attack


But I have digressed yet again, back to the new program to save dogs that have already failed the food guarding portion of the behavior evaluation at Lucas County Care and Control.

Several dogs showed initial improvement in the shelter but no rescue was willing to take the dogs so they were euthanized.  It has been announced that in the future any dog showing improvement will kept at the shelter (at taxpayer expense) until a rescue turns up that will accept the dog. How much money is being invested here?  This program was suggested by the president of the Lucas County board of Commissioners Carol Contrada. Presumably the residents of Lucas County are paying the bills.

It is important to recognize that dogs from this program are not offered for adoption to the public directly from the shelter because of public safety concerns.  Rescues with limited financial resources to compensate a potential victim of a mauling by one of these dogs will, however, traffick them right back into the community.  

Here are Dog Warden Lyle's thoughts on that.  " Ms. Lyle said once the county shelter sees potential aggression in a dog, it cannot be adopted from there out of a concern for public safety.

With the restrictions that Ms. Lyle has placed on the pilot program, which was recommended by Mrs. Contrada, it would seem Ms. Lyle has accepted that many of the dogs in her care must be killed. At every turn she has a reason why she must kill dogs at the county shelter, but her usual fall-back position is “public safety.”

When asked why a dog whose food guarding behavior has been changed can’t be adopted to the public, she replied: “We still saw that initial behavior.”

But if the dog is no longer a food guarder?

“Just because they did well on a different day, doesn’t mean we didn’t see the aggression. Our primary purpose is public safety. We are not going to compromise that.” 

It seems that the Toledo officials who went shopping for a dog warden without scruples after the resignation of Tom Skeldon may have gotten a bit more than they expected with Julie Lyle and it seems that the Blade is not pleased.  It appears that the expensive program already in place to save dogs that have failed behavior testing is not enough. 

As usual, I have digressed.  Lets return to the Pope.  The Pope never made the comments that form the basis for former Toledo mayor and current city councilman Ford's desire to save "death row" dogs 
Per Religion News Service "  There’s only one problem: None of it ever happened.

Yes, a version of that quotation was uttered by a pope, but it was said decades ago by Paul VI, who died in 1978. There is no evidence that Francis repeated the words during his public audience on Nov. 26, as has been widely reported, nor was there a boy mourning his dead dog. “There is a fundamental rule in journalism. That is double-checking, and in this case it was not done,” the Vatican’s deputy spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, told Reuters on Saturday."

The Italian version of the Huffington Post picked up the false story and and it went viral, false but viral.  Who knew that Italy was also infested with Huffington Post animal advocates?  

Here is the teaching of the Catholic Church.  Catechism of the Catholic Church Part three, Life in Christ 2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.  

Here are the thoughts of Pope Francis regarding pets and children. He warns against placing animals above children in importance. Per Religion News Service  "But he went a step further and strongly criticized those couples who choose not to have children, saying they had been influenced by a culture of “well-being” that says life is better without kids.  “You can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be carefree,” the pope said.  “It might be better — more comfortable — to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog. Is this true or not? Have you seen it?

“Then, in the end this marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness.“

The Catholic Church teaches that the priority in spending money should be to the relief of human misery and even uses the hard to accept word "unworthy" in spending money on animals when humans are in need.  The Pope has clearly said that children are to be valued above pets.  

In Toledo a non-Catholic former mayor has stated that a comment the Pope did not make inspired him to promote a program to give second chances to dogs already judged by professionals too dangerous or too sick to return to the community at tremendous financial cost and an early record of failure in Toledo Ohio.  Using the comment not made by the Pope the councilman has suggested that dogs already evaluated by professionals be again evaluated, this time by amateurs. These dogs are to be sent to rescues, many will be fostered in private homes.  Children, peaceful neighbors, gentle pets will be put at risk. The Pope has warned against elevating animals over children while a child devastated by disfiguring injuries and now blind in one eye  struggles to recover.  The dog causing the injuries lives in luxury with a mauler cam in his well appointed room so the mauler's fans can watch him anytime they choose.  

My head spins.

I need to rest in a dimly lit room with a cool cloth to my forehead.  I was hoping for sense and found none.  

Pregnant woman attacked by pit bull in pit bull centric Toledo Ohio, and the first ever Hello Bully Hero Award. Congratulations to the publisher of the Toledo Blade

I am going to post this quickly.  This article appeared in the Toledo Blade and the Blade is not known for reporting on pit bull attacks.  It is not expected that this link will remain live for very long.

Thirty year old Maria Drake,  21 weeks pregnant, was attacked by her pit bull today.  Mrs. Drake was bitten on her thumb, left inner thigh, left breast, and right forearm.  She was taken by ambulance to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center per Dog Warden Julie Lyle.  She was in still in surgery at the time of publication.

 Jesse  Drake, husband of the victim, stated that the 1 1/2 year old pit bull had never shown any signs of aggression and often played with the four children, ages 11, 7, 6, and 4. Mr. Drake said the fetus was not harmed by the attack.

It was reported that the 71 pound, unneutered pit bull attacked Mrs. Drake when she went into the yard where it was playing with the children.  Per Mr. Drake, the neighbor's children had been poking the dog with  sticks and it was "riled up" and redirected on the victim.

The dog has been surrendered to Animal Control.  It will be held for a 10 day quarantine and is expected to be euthanized.

.... An update on the above story.  The 13abc.com report with video is considerably different from the previously linked article. The previous version might have been sanitized just a bit.  Per 13abc.com "A Toledo woman is in the hospital after her dog attacked her. Police said if they hadn't gotten there when they did the outcome of the attack might have been very different."   Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle made the on-camera statement  "We don't have any idea at this point. I don't think that it's a fatal injury, but I think she is severely injured, is what we are understanding at this point," . 

It is reported that the the neighbors were not taunting the dog, they hit the fence in an effort to distract the pit bull as it attacked the pregnant woman for 15 minutes prior to the arrival of first responders.   13abc.com interviews a neighbor who was a witness"  "A real big pit bull was just attacking her like trying to rip her arm off," said Margie Troiano, a neighbor of the victim. "So, we tried hitting the fence to try to get it to get off of her, but it didn't want to get off."

Neighbors then tried stabbing the dog, identified as a pit bull by the Dog Warden. It would not release its grip on the woman.

"The dog had her for about 15 minutes before anyone showed up," Troiano said. 

Firefighters arrived and had to physically and forcefully break the dog's grip."

For additional information on this attack please click here.  First responders are interviewed and show the tools they used to force the pit bull off his owner.


Speaking of the Toledo Blade, congratulations to Blade publisher and editor-in-chief John Robinson Block.  Mr. Block has been honored with the first ever "Hello Bully Hero" award presented by the breed specific advocacy organization Hello Bully of Cranberry Township Pennsylvania.  The award was presented at the group's Lovers not Fighters Gala.  Hello Bully promotes the Hello Bully Hero award as an annual recognition of greatness in the community.

A quote from the Toledo Blade article on this honor "Jean Keating, founder and president of Lucas County Pit Crew, said Mr. Block helped change both Lucas County and state law in terms of how “pit bulls” are treated. Mr. Block and The Blade were critical of former Dog Warden Tom Skeldon, who believed all “pit bulls” should be killed."

 Family members of the twenty five Americans killed by pit bulls since the passage of HB 14 were not invited.

Manure slinging, Bones remains MIA, day 9

For a situation with absolutely no news, the Bones saga just keeps getting more outrageous by the day.  North West Ohio Underdog Rescue and the Lexus Project continue to sling manure at each other.

This post from Northwest Ohio Underdog dated 1/14/2013.
BONES IS STILL MISSING :

Statement of Facts :

On 1/13/2012 Bones was released from Brooklyn Center AC of New York to the custody of Richard Rosenthal of the Lexus Project. It cost $395.00 to get him out of doggie jail. The plan was for Richard and Robin Mittasch to transport him to a point where my professional Transport team could pick him up.
Before they could even begin transport I received a panicked call from Robin stating Bones had gone crazy and ripped the baby gate from their van and was spinning it the parking lot with it. Richard was trying to grab the gate from Bones, but was not having any luck. She then stated they were having a vet tech come out to sedate Bones for the trip.
When my transport met Richard and got Bones they did not have any trouble in fact I have pictures of him sitting in the back seat looking over the drivers shoulder.
Bones spent the night at their house and was brought to Toledo the next morning.

Bones arrived in Toledo and immediately began playing in the yard. Robin told me he was my dog now and he came with a $300.00 check the balance of the funds raised for his defense. 

Shortly after Bones was here he began training … hanging on the wall in the group dog class was a protection suit (used for attack training)
Bones ripped that suit off the wall and attacked it. After class, the trainer and I did some tests and he determined Bones had been trained to attack but not trained to release.
It was at this time, that I told Robin that Bones would probably never be adoptable because of the 4 pages of bite reports from New York and the attack training.
She said I’m sorry he’s going to take up a spot in your rescue, I said I am happy to keep him he’s a good boy for me. A year went by before I spoke with Robin again. I did send her a few photos with my cell phone, as I will often do when someone has helped save the dogs life.

NWO-Underdog Rescue Inc. is a 501c3 Non Profit Animal rescue. I specialize in dogs with behavior issues. The dogs everyone else passes by or gives up on. I am dedicated to these dogs and they stay with me until they are ready to be adopted, regardless if they are funded or not. The rescue itself, USED to be a garage and was finished in 2006. It is insulated sound proofed and has heat and air conditioning. There are 10 dogs in there.
The other 5 dogs are my dogs and they live in the house with me.

On January 5th 2013 between the hours of 8am and 9pm. Someone broke a door on the side of the rescue and stole Bones. He’s a good boy, so I am sure he walked right out with them… they also took his new blanket he got for Christmas and his toy.
On Sunday January 6, 2013 at 9:30 am a police report was filed.

Flyers were created and distributed, Julie Lyle the dog warden was notified.

A media crusade was launched to get the word out. I would like to thank the media.

Toledo Blade interviewed me for an article that ran on January 7, 2013.
http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2013/01/07/Dog-freed-in-murder-stolen-from-local-kennel.html

Channel 13 also interviewed me
http://www.13abc.com/story/20524719/toledo-dognapping-has-ties-to-new-york-murder-case


Channel 11 also did a video segment.
http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/20526543/famous-dog-stolen-from-rescue-home


At some point Robin Mittasch of the Lexus Project began to feel I was not doing enough to find Bones. It was at that time that the page “Bones Battle” Originally created while Bones was in NY AC by Jayne Cvetonaski and myself was taken over by Robin of the Lexus Project and a slander campaign began against NWO-Underdog Rescue Inc.
We had permitted someone from TLP to have administration rights on the page to help share dogs they were trying to help.

In the last 36 hours INSTEAD of looking for Bones they have slandered every way they possibly can. Including but not limited to, having people drive by here and posting the address and house specifications and inviting people to come check us out.
This is a huge safety issue for the other high profile dogs in my care.

So to answer someone’s question as to why I am not on here defending myself.

1) My first priority is running down leads generated by flyers and news media.
2) My second priority securing a safe place for the remaining dogs.

The remaining dogs have been moved to a secure location.

AGAIN TO BE CLEAR, BONES AND MYSELF ARE THE VICTIMS HERE.

I will not be answering questions, I do not have time to sit on facebook all day.
No one who is sitting on Facebook all day can possibly be doing anything for any living creature in his or her care.

Toledo Police have been notified and ANOTHER police report has been filed, for menacing this time. Driving by here is stalking. Stepping onto the property is trespassing. You will be charged.

For the people out there that are truly interested in helping find Bones by posting flyers you can inbox me and I will send you the flyer to print out and distribute.

There are a few questions that jump out from Sutter's  statement. Does Ms. Sutter consider the calm demeanor of Bones after the violent outburst during transport might be a result of the sedative that was administered to Bones?

Ms. Sutter states that she was told that Bones was her dog now, was there a legal transfer of title? The Ohio Revised Code requires the completion of a Transfer of Title to a Vicious Dog.  This transfer is to be filed with the County Dog Warden and the County Board of Health.   Was Julie Lyle, the Lucas County Dog Warden, aware that a "rescue" housed in a small garage behind a tiny house in Toledo, apparently already full of dangerous dogs,  accepted a dog too dangerous to remain in New York City?  Did she sign off on this?  Is she investigating North West Ohio Underdog Rescue now?  Does the Lucas County Board of Health have any thoughts on the numbers of "high profile" dogs with "behavior issues" that North West Ohio Underdog is hoarding in that garage?  Bones was following his genetic blueprint when he refused to terminate the attack.

This is a direct quote from Sutter's statement "Shortly after Bones was here he began training … hanging on the wall in the group dog class was a protection suit (used for attack training) Bones ripped that suit off the wall and attacked it. After class, the trainer and I did some tests and he determined Bones had been trained to attack but not trained to release."  Pit bull expert Diane Jessup has some thoughts on "ring work" for pit bulls which might shed some light on Bones attack on the protection suit.   There are aspects of ring sport which put the bulldog at a disadvantage when competing against sheepdogs like shepherds and malinois. The sport requires the dog, at times, to bite and then quickly release and retreat - something no true bulldog is willing to do. Also, biting the leg, which is considered preferable, takes more training for a bulldog who will naturally shun the extremities in favor of the more "courageous" bites to the body. A bulldog is bred to grip the head of its prey - whereas a sheepdog nips the legs.

Bones was following his genetic blueprint when he refused to terminate the attack and this dog is apparently at large in a densely populated Ohio city.  There has been no mention of the possibility of dangerous behavior  from this dog in  any "lost dog"  ads or flyers.  Wouldn't this be an important  fact to share with the public?

Sutter stated "It was at this time, that I told Robin that Bones would probably never be adoptable because of the 4 pages of bite reports from New York and the attack training."     There are FOUR PAGES of bite reports from New York and Sutter has not seen fit to share this information?

Please take a look at comments on Sutter's post. It was suggested that  the Lexus Project stole Bones.  The lawyers who run the Lexus Project drove to Toledo Ohio from Oceanside NY to steal Bones???  Well, this is a wacky conspiracy theory. Nobody has said "holy cow, we need to get this dog off the streets before he bites somebody."   Instead comments run to "we need to find this poor baby, he must be scared and cold."  What the hell are these people thinking?

Meanwhile, at the Lexus Project Facebook page we find this post,
 

The Lexus Project, Legal Defense for Dogs

11 hours ago

I now understand why Bones has not been searched for by Kat- she been too busy removing the existing dogs from her residence to hide whatever dirty secrets were going on there. Take a look at her public statement on Nwo- underdog rescue. We will find Bones and bring him home.

Followed by,
 The Lexus Project, Legal Defense for Dogs It is true he had been in her "care" for the past year as she states her program is about a year, however he is legally ours. With signed transfer of ownership to us dated December 30, 2011. Please don't count on anything you read there. Just please let's concentrate on helping to find him by sharing and passing the word that he is Mia..we can deal with the craziness after he is found. I have a few amazing Toledo people who have been exceptionally helpful. If you are in the Toledo area specifically by the mall area please contact Tlp so we can arrange you to hook up with our regional point person in Toledo. Thelexusproject@optonline.net

The Toledo Blade has checked in on the North West Ohio Underdog v. the Lexus Project as well.

Get comfortable folks, there is a LONG way to go on this one.

Still more pittery from Ohio, September 14, 2012

On July 23, 2012 Sarah Ziebro, age 30, was attacked by her pit bull.  Ziebro was living in Florida but formerly lived in Parma Ohio.  Her brothers live in the Cleveland area and are attempting to raise money for their sister's medical bills because she was uninsured.  The family business, Relentless Recovery repossesses between 20 and 35 cars per day and the brothers are hoping that Cleveland area residents will sponsor any amount per car.  This is an unusual idea but a pit bull mauling generates huge medical bills. 

Ms. Ziebro has suffered for seizures for nearly 10 years.  On the day of the attack she seized and the dog attacked her.  Ziebro's brother John stated "Whether this dog was startled, or something else, we'll never know.  But as Sarah seized helpless on the ground, the dog attacked her.  Until this assault, the dog had never displayed any form of aggression towards Sarah, and was normally quite and docile."

Ziebro's carotid artery was torn, she was transported to the Blake Medical Center in Bradenton for surgery.  Per John Ziebro, the plastic surgeon who worked on Sarah, Dr. Melinda Lacerna, told him that the facial injuries were among the worst she had ever seen from a dog bite.  The surgery required 600 sutures and four hours of surgery to repair Ms. Ziebro's face.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/08/parma_native_sarah_ziebro_an_e.html

http://www.cleveland.com/tipoff/index.ssf/2012/08/parma_native_sarah_ziebro_figh.html

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am including this one because it illustrates the sorry legal state of affairs regarding vicious dogs.  An article dated September 11, 2012 deals with a 20 minute mauling of a Springfield Ohio man by 3 Cane Corso dogs.  The victim was life flighted to Miami Valley hospital in Dayton Ohio for treatment of his injuries. 

The victim and his girlfriend rode bicycles to the home of a friend, Karlon Avery, the owner of the Cane Corsos.  The victim was attacked after he crossed an invisible fence and attempted to pet one of the dogs.  Police were called, they shot one of the dogs. The other two dogs are in quarantine.  Avery has mixed feelings about the mauling of his friend stating that he has warned the victim about the dogs in the past. 

Here is where the story gets interesting.  A spokesman for the local Humane Society stated there have been two other "incidents" involving Avery's dogs.  In both cases children have crossed the invisible fence and were bitten by the Cane Corsos.  The dogs were not designated as vicious because the law considers these bites provoked because they were on property.  Springfield Police Chief Stephen Moody said no charges are being considered because the most  recent victim was on Avery's property as well.

Obviously Avery does not have these dogs under control if this same event has occurred THREE times.  His invisible fence does nothing to protect the public from dogs who have bitten children twice and mauled an adult.  If Avery had a swimming pool on his property he would have to build an actual fence to prevent accidental drownings.  There have been THREE bites from his dogs, one of them a severe mauling. Avery needs adequate confinement for dogs known to be aggressive.  Like it or not, sometimes non family members will cross onto private property, a mailman, meter reader, zoning inspector, child chasing a ball.  These people should not be exposed to a well known risk.  Avery and his dogs have three strikes, this is enough. 
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/news/local/dogs-reportedly-attack-man-careflight-responds/nR779/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From the Toledo Blade, dated 7/14/2012.  Even after changing state law to suit local sensibilities, Toledo is still an unhappy place.  City Councilman D. Michael Collins is insulted that the new and very pit bull friendly Lucas County Dog Warden did not appear at a Public Safety, Law, and Criminal Justice committee meeting to discuss enforcement of vicious dog laws.  Given the no-show of dog warden Julie Lyle, Collins cancelled the meeting and sent requests for a great deal of information on the Lucas County Dog Warden's office.

Collins was later told that Joe Walter, Emergency Management Agency director would appear at the meeting in place of Lyle but Collins said "He's a nice guy but her doesn't have anything to do with this."

Collins has requested information on procedures put in place in Lucas County as it relates to Toledo's vicious dog laws and how many cases have been investigated or prosecuted with the Toledo Police Department or the Lucas County Dog Warden's office under the new law.  He also wants the number of dog bite complaints for 2011 and 2012 to date and the number of dogs that have been classified under each category of the dog law.  Collins will also request information from the Toledo Police Department and the Lucas County Board of Health, which also tracks dog bites.

Collins has said "Even though we have three separate institutions involved, there should be coordination of efforts so these records and the proper levels of prosecution are going on."  Collins does not feel that the County is doing enough to ensure vicious dogs are kept under control and was disappointed that Dog Warden Lyle was not available to discuss the issue. 

It is gratifying to see an elected official recognizes that the new law has not made Toledo safer and is actually following up on the new state law and looking for enforcement.  I suspect he will find that there has been little enforcement and even less prosecution of owners of vicious dogs. 

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/07/14/Collins-seeks-alliance-for-dog-bite-inquiries.html