DAYTON Ohio
Montgomery County
A Dayton teenager was bitten in the face by a neighbor's pit bull. The pit bull ran from the owner's yard to attack the 14 year old. The girl required stitches to her upper lip and will require dental implant surgery to replace a tooth knocked out by the the neighbor's pit. The dog was known to the girl and considered safe and friendly. As always, the pit bull owner believes that her dog did not bite the girl but instead "got excited" jumped on the girl, knocked out her tooth and scratched her but did not bite her.
ABC22 News in Dayton began this story with "Another day, another dog bite in Dayton. This time a 14 year old girl." It was reported that as of July Dayton Children's Hospital had treated 126 children for dog bites. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley promises to look into tougher laws to protect the public from vicious dogs. Getting to be routine in Dayton. Please keep in mind that the Montgomery County commissioners gave Mark Kumpf, Montgomery County dog warden, a raise this year while admitting that the year had been "difficult."
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7/14/2015
Port Clinton Ohio
Ottawa County
A 10 year old pit bull jumped a fence in Port Clinton to kill a seven year old Pomeranian in the yard of the Pomeranian owner and then went on to go after the owner of the dead Pomeranian. The girlfriend of Astro the pit bull's owner, took control of Astro after the attack, a responding Police officer put Astro in the back of his cruiser and followed procedure by notifying the county dog warden. The dog warden refused to respond to the scene and told police to release Astro right back to the owner "because the dog attacked another dog and not a human being." Even the pit bull owner was surprised by this and promised to have Astro put down after the 10 day rabies confinement. William Yount, owner of Astro was charged with the misdemeanor Failure to Confine a Dangerous Dog with a possible fine of $250.
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6/2/2015
North Canton Ohio
Stark County
A North Canton family dropped off their little eight pound Pomeranian/Poodle mix dog at Promway Kennels, they were on their way out of town for a business trip. They have used Promway Kennels many times in the past and were pleased at the care Shadow received. Things did not go so well this time.
Kennel owner Bill "Novotny said a kennel employee mistakenly put Shadow in the area where two lab-pit bull mix dogs were and they attacked Shadow. The dogs were rescued from a shelter and Novotny said he was trying to find them a home.
The answer to that is no. Below is a Facebook post made by Bill Novotny in early July of this year, just weeks after the mauling death of little Shadow. Please take a look at the Facebook page for Promway Kennels. Novotny is STILL pulling unplaceable pit bulls from shelters, fostering and adopting out these pit bulls from his business. That business is caring for other people's beloved pets. Please spend a few minutes watching the videos of Novotny's interviews. He is relaxed, genial, smiling, while talking about the death of a client. While a "trusted employee" may have made an "unfortunate mistake" leading to the death of eight pound Shadow, the big mistake was made by Novotny. He is responsible for housing rescue pit bulls at the Promway facility. Novotny made the choice to harbor and "work with" the pit bull that killed Shadow. Novotny stated that the killer pit bull was euthanized but he has apparently learned nothing from Shadow's death.
From the Promway Kennels Facebook page.
Fosters that are currently at Promway- call Bill (330-494-8100) between 8am-5pm to set up a time to meet them - we would love for them to find their forever home!
NEWSFLASH, There is a reason these pit bulls are in the rescue system. They have already failed in at least one household, likely more, killed another dog, killed a cat, bit the owner, bit a neighbor, jumped a fence and created a dangerous nuisance in a neighborhood, cited by animal control, the classic reasons for surrender of a pit bull. Relocating these secondhand maulers is a dangerous business. Shadow paid with his life. Pit bull advocacy refuses to learn. Promway kennels has been in business for 30 years, there is no excuse for the death of Shadow. Bill Novotny knows better.
For additional video please click here.
As it might be suspected, this particular attack touched a nerve with me. I will end this section of the post with a meme from the Facebook page for Dalton of Promway (the unplaceable pit bull) posted May 30th, just prior to the pit bull mauling death of Shadow..
Clueless? Yes. Sanctimonious? Yes. Learning from the death of a client's dog in an attack that that may well be a kick in the financial bottom line of your business? Nope. Why do pit bull activists feel that the peaceful public just needs a little "education" about pit bulls? The actual news educates us every day. Educate yourselves.
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6/12/2015
South Toledo Ohio
Lucas County
Per the Toledo Blade, a Lucas County deputy dog warden and two police officers responded to an animal complaint. A resident stated that he had been walking in an alley when he was attacked by three dogs that had escaped from Jay Rummel's residence. When the animal control officer was serving the citation for failure to confine the dogs to Rummel, Rummel's 20 year old roommate Brandon Gill opened the door and let the three dogs out again, disobeying a direct order from police to keep the door shut. After the dogs were let out they charged police. The lead dog was shot several times. Per police reports, after the dog was shot Gill "came off the porch and started swinging at the officers." After a brief struggle Gill was taken into custody, charged with felonious assault on a police officer, ordered held at the Lucas County jail in lieu of the bond pending a preliminary hearing.
The dog, a pit bull (surprise!) was taken to a local veterinarian but the injuries were noted to be very serious. Rummell surrendered his pit bull to Lucas County Canine Care and Control. Julie Lyle, Lucas County dog warden, stated the pit bull had been shot in the left front leg, left shoulder area, and right leg. The pit bull was euthanized.
Animal Control officers investigating this incident discovered that a second of Rummell's pit bulls was also involved in the biting incident earlier in the day. This pit bull was seized and declared vicious. Rummell stated to reporters that his dogs were not aggressive with people (despite biting a passerby and charging police) had not bitten anyone in the past but could be "territorial." Rummell was allowed to keep the remaining pit bull.
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6/5/2015
Norton Ohio
Summit County
From the Norton Ohio Police blotter. Police were called to a Norton Avenue residence June 5 after a man reported his dogs were attacked by a pit bull that was running loose in the area. Officers observed bite wounds on one dog’s head and neck and the other dog’s snout. The pit bull had been corralled and the county dog warden was notified.
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7/1/2015
Cleveland Ohio
Cuyahoga County
A federal judge in Cleveland sentenced the organizer of an Akron dog fighting ring to two years in prison. The raid on the Akron dog fighting ring has been covered in Scorched Earth blogs several times.
Per WDTN News "56-year-old Alvin Banks apologized during the hearing Tuesday, saying he grew up with people who had dogs fight and didn’t realize the practice is inhumane. He pleaded guilty in April to five charges, three related to dog-fighting, a felon in possession of a firearm, and marijuana possession."
"He didn't realize the practice (of dog fighting) is inhumane?" You can't make this stuff up. Mr. Banks will have two years to think about this.
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6/5/2015
Toledo Ohio
Lucas County
Two pit bulls were shot by a citizen in Toledo but the Toledo Blade did not cover the story. A Toledo dog owner found his neighbor's two pit bulls attacking his own German Shepherd, in his own yard. Per the Chronicle " a 29-year-old man from Toledo heard dogs growling in his front yard. He found his German shepherd pinned down by the neighbor’s two pit bulls. One of the pit bulls was biting the dog’s neck, while the other one was on top of the German shepherd biting his hindquarters.
After attempts to scare the dogs failed, the man went into his house and retrieved his shotgun. He fired one warning shot, and when the dogs continued their attack, he shot at each of the pit bulls. Although the dogs retreated, one returned and approached the man" That pit bull was shot and killed.
The pit bull owner stated that his son had left a gate open allowing the pit bulls to escape and he understands why his pit bulls were shot. The German Shepherd was reported to be in critical condition at a local veterinary hospital.* * *
5/19/2015
Toledo Ohio
Lucas County
A Toledo woman surrendered 14 dogs to a local Humane Society after Toledo police responded to a noise complaint of dogs barking. The residence where the dogs were housed had no furniture and was unoccupied other than the 20 dogs found there. The owner stated that she was in the process of buying the house but humane officials referred to the residence as "unsanitary because of fecal matter and urine" Just picture it.
Per the Toledo Blade " The owner said she first bought a female from a man selling puppies on the street, and could not afford to get her spayed then. The dog got pregnant, and the situation spiraled from there as the dogs continued to breed.
“It got out of hand,” she said. “I love dogs, and I thought I could do it on my own. ... I knew I needed help, but every place I contacted would either not call me back or tried to send me in a different direction, which always never helped.”
My guess is that neighbors are VERY pleased with the removal of these dogs.
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5/8/2015
Youngstown Ohio
Mahoning County
A Youngstown woman, walking in a local park was attacked by a pit bull.
“Horrifying” and “terrifying”... Those are two words used by a south side woman to describe her encounter with a dog while exercising at a city park.
June Calhoun was taking a late morning walk at Jackson Park in the area of Lenox and Windsor Streets, when she found herself caught in a pitbull's stare.
"I didn't hear him. I didn't see where he came from. He jumped at me."
After the dog knocked June down, she found a stick and threw it at him. He backed off, but as she was trying to get up, he jumped on her again.
"Oh they can jump so high. Unbelievable! And he's muscle, you know, he knocked me down."
Her arms took the brunt of the dog's aggression because June was trying to protect a more vital part of her body.
"I don't know where I got that strength, but I was going to survive because he was trying to go for my neck. And why I was putting my arms up like that."
Calhoun was able to signal a jeep passing by as the dog was distracted.
"And I was able to run over to the truck but he saw me again and came after me again. I was able to get in the truck before he get to me."
June says the dog ripped the skin on her right wrist. She also has bites on her left hand, arm and knee. Her right shoulder was also injured in the attack.
The pit bull was unlicensed. The Mahoning County dog warden expected to file charges for failure to control and failure to license. The dog was being quarantined in the owner's possession.
Youngstown Ohio regulates pit bulls but Ohio pit bull activists ignore attacks like the one on Mrs. Calhoun and are demanding removal of Youngstown BSL. There have been no offers by pit bull advocacy to cover Mrs. Calhoun's medical bills.
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5/13/2015
West Chester Ohio
Butler County
A tiny Poodle was attacked by a pit bull, and a Cane Corso mix at a school bus stop, in full view of the Poodle owner, her children, neighborhood children, AND a school bus full of children. Watch the video here. These children are traumatized, the neighbors are traumatized and the dogs are at large regularly. "I heard all this screaming, and I ran out, and Gracie was over in the next yard, laying in the grass with this huge open wound, looked like no hair and no skin," neighbor Nan Adler said. The two adult dogs involved in the attack on little Gracie the poodle are frequent offenders, West Chester police took them to the Butler County dog warden's facility a month prior to this attack.
Our old friend Kurt Merbs makes this statement on camera " "Unfortunately, the dog actually has to die to make the dog dangerous," Merbs said. "To stipulate a dog is dangerous, it has to bite a person, which in this case it did not, or it has to kill another dog."
Little Gracie lived, she was released to go home six days after the attack. As Merbs has stated, the pit bull and the Cane Corso mix will not be designated as dangerous.
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In honor of yesterday's National Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day we will end this post with the image of another child killed by a pit bull. The child is Mia DeRouen, 4 years old, killed by Niko, the dog in the photo. This monster pit bull was owned by Mia's mother's boyfriend. Mia was killed inside her mother's apartment as she and her mother watched television together. When police arrived in response to the 911 call the dog was so violent that Mia had to be handed out a bedroom window to first responders for transport to a hospital. The pit bull was shot by police. It required 13 bullets to stop Niko.
In honor of yesterday's National Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day we will end this post with the image of another child killed by a pit bull. The child is Mia DeRouen, 4 years old, killed by Niko, the dog in the photo. This monster pit bull was owned by Mia's mother's boyfriend. Mia was killed inside her mother's apartment as she and her mother watched television together. When police arrived in response to the 911 call the dog was so violent that Mia had to be handed out a bedroom window to first responders for transport to a hospital. The pit bull was shot by police. It required 13 bullets to stop Niko.
