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Nitro’s kennel bill remains in limbo
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
State lawmakers will adjourn for the year without acting on legislation prompted by an incident at a former Youngstown kennel.
Substitute House Bill 70 passed the Ohio House almost a year ago on a split vote, then stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate without a hearing.
The House is not expected to have another voting session this year, and the Ohio Senate plans to meet again next week to act on other issues.
The bill was offered by Democratic Reps. Ron Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, and Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, after an October 2008 incident in which humane agents found 15 dogs dead or dying at the High Caliber K-9 on Coitsville-Hubbard Road in Youngstown.
The kennel operator initially faced 19 counts of cruelty to animals, but those charges were later reduced to four with misdemeanor penalties.
The proposed legislation would have enabled prosecutors to seek felony charges against kennel owners who abuse animals in their care. About 45 other states already rank animal-cruelty charges as felonies.
Democrats and a few Republicans voted in favor of the bill when it passed the House, but Gerberry said there were concerns by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Opponents were concerned about elevating potential penalties for one crime against companion animals when individuals convicted of comparable crimes against pets and people faced lesser consequences.
Gerberry said the legislation gave prosecutors the option of seeking felony charges but did not mandate the higher penalties.
“I believe that you should give the prosecutor that type of option,” he said, adding, “We should give prosecutors more teeth when dealing with people who abuse companion animals.”
Gerberry said he is considering re-introducing the legislation next session, though it’s not likely the incoming Republican- controlled chambers will pass it in its current form.
“I think during the next session it will be extremely difficult to get that type of legislation passed,” he said. “If you’re a licensed kennel in the state, you should be properly caring for the animals that you’re taking in.”