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Did dog die of neglect? Valley jury will decide
GRAPHIC PHOTOS: Kennel Raid
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By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
A dog owner’s civil lawsuit against a former Valley kennel owner in a highly publicized case of suspected animal neglect goes to trial next week.
The case is set for a jury trial on Sept. 28 before Magistrate Timothy G. Welsh of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Elizabeth Raab of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., owner of a 3-year-old male Rottweiler named Nitro, who died in October 2008, sued Steven S. Croley, 38, former owner of the High Caliber K-9 Kennel on Coitsville-Hubbard Road.
The suit says Nitro died because Croley failed to provide adequate food, water, lodging or care for him.
Raab dropped off Nitro at the kennel in June 2008 under a $750-a-month agreement that the kennel would feed, house and train Nitro for at least three months, and that Raab would pay for any necessary veterinary care, the suit says.
However, the kennel failed to train the dog or have him examined or treated by a veterinarian, the suit says.
“Nitro died under defendant’s care due to long-term neglect,” according to the suit, which seeks more than $25,000 in damages.
However, Croley says in a pretrial affidavit that Nitro died from the parvo virus, and that Croley could not have prevented the dog’s death. Croley says in the affidavit that Raab hired him to find a home for Nitro.
In a separate criminal case, Croley was convicted in January 2009 of four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, fined $1,000 and jailed for four months.
The kennel was shut down in the fall of 2008 when the criminal charges were filed after animal owners found seven dead and 12 starving dogs there, but it later opened under new ownership.
Raab is represented by Atty. J. Jeffrey Holland of Sharon Center, Ohio. Croley is represented by Atty. James E. Lanzo of Youngstown.