Dogged pursuit Pit bull owner faces numerous charges
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN — Barbara Heath doesn’t venture far from her front porch, fearful that she’ll be attacked by a neighbor’s pit bull dogs.
“I have to hide in the house — no one will come here — the teenagers won’t cut my grass,” Heath said Monday, glancing over to a small pit bull dog in her neighbor’s backyard. “That dog is hungry, starving. The notorious one is inside the house.”
On Monday, her dilemma on North Truesdale Avenue brought out Dave Nelson, a Mahoning County deputy dog warden; John Hall, an Animal Charity humane investigator; and city police officers Sharon Burton and Melvin Johnson.
Nelson and Hall had a snare and dog-sized stretcher. Burton and Johnson stood by, shotguns at the ready.
“I’m scared — I’m a senior citizen and I can’t enjoy my house. That one in the back can jump that fence and that other one [inside the house] ate up the mailman a few weeks ago,” Heath, 55, said from her porch. “I was feeding my cat and a dog came from the house on Saturday. I have lupus and I went to the hospital, for the stress.”
Nelson said the mail carrier ran to the street after being bitten by a dog that jumped the fence at 29 North Truesdale. The postal worker’s shin wasn’t punctured, thanks to a boot, the deputy dog warden said.
Heath said she hadn’t seen her neighbor the past few days. She wasn’t sure how many dogs he has.
Nelson and Hall pounded on the front door at Heath’s neighbor’s but got no human response Monday afternoon. The activity, though, caused a large black and white pit bull dog to poke through drapes at the front window and bark.
Birds flew in and out of open or broken upstairs windows. Basement windows were propped open and more dogs could be heard barking from the underground rooms.
Nelson and Hall used bits of fresh bagels (supplied by Heath) to entice the emaciated tan and white pit bull in the backyard to come to the low chain-link fence. The dog, her tail wagging, gobbled up the bagel morsels but shied away and barked each time she saw the snare.
“Poor thing,” Nelson said, shaking his head. “She just wants to eat.”
The animal, its ribs protruding, had to be felled with a tranquilizer dart after attempts to catch her with a snare were unsuccessful. She let out a few yelps when the dart hit and then ambled to the driveway side of the house, to an open basement window.
She tried to go through the window but her legs turned wobbly. Within three minutes, the tranquilizer took effect and she slumped to the driveway.
Nelson and Hall then used the stretcher to carry the limp dog to a county van. Nelson said the dog owner, once identified, will be charged with no license, no insurance and improper confinement. Hall will add charges of animal cruelty.
Nelson said he would confer with the city prosecutor before returning to 29 North Truesdale to seize the pit bull dogs inside the house. He used the snare to close the basement windows to prevent the dogs inside from escaping.
Dog complaints
Mahoning County Dog Warden Mike Fox said his department had received 29 dog-complaint calls by 3 p.m. Monday, eight of which were specifically about pit bulls. He said 20 to 40 calls for service come in each day.
Nelson said that by midafternoon Monday he’d captured three pit bull dogs. He said as many as eight were reportedly dumped — turned loose — possibly because of the new city ordinance banning pit bull dogs that took effect Saturday.
The only pit bulls allowed in the city are animals that were registered before the ban and have proper enclosure pens, $100,000 liability insurance and meet other restrictions. Violators who bring in new pit bulls face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Fox said his department is — and has been — enforcing state laws that govern pit bulls’ enclosures, registration and insurance. He’s waiting for direction from county commissioners before enforcing the new city ordinance.
“People should call the dog warden’s office if they have dogs they can’t keep,” Nelson said. “They should make arrangements, not turn the dogs loose.”
The city police 911 Center received nine dog complaints from 12:01 a.m. Saturday through about noon Monday. Two of the complaints were about vicious dogs.