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Dog used for fighting at Youngstown house stolen, rejoins owner
YOUNGSTOWN
There is a happy ending for three dogs authorities said were used in dogfighting and found in an abandoned South Side home this week, but the search for two other missing dogs continues.
Dave Nelson, deputy Mahoning County dog warden, and Youngstown police were alerted to a vacant and abandoned West Myrtle Avenue home earlier this week when a resident called police about a large cane corso dog on the roof of the house. Police discovered at least four other dogs in various parts of the vacant home.
Nelson said barriers inside the house were situated in a way that suggested dogfighting had been taking place inside. The dogs left inside the house were starving and left to fend for themselves.
Nelson said the owner of the cane corso called his office Friday to claim the dog. The man said the dog, in which he had invested more than $2,000, had been stolen from his home.
Nelson said the owner filed the necessary paperwork and took the dog home. He said the dog clearly was happy to see his owner.
Nelson has received similar calls for the beagle and American bulldog taken from the house. He said the claims seem to be legitimate, and he expects those animals to be claimed in the near future once the people show proper proof of ownership.
Nelson said dog theft is more prevalent in the area than most people realize.
“You always want to watch your dogs,” Nelson said. “You have hoarders who take dogs because of a mental illness. You have dogfighters who taken them as bait dogs and those who take them for ransom or to breed them. We are happy that someone came in and claimed these dogs. That is a happy ending.”
The end is uncertain still for two other dogs left in the house after they were discovered because the dwelling was too unsteady to safely retrieve them.
Nelson said officials returned Thursday to retrieve them, but the animals, along with all the food and water dishes left for them, were gone.
Officials will continue searching for those two dogs today.
“We think these guys may have taken the dogs and dumped them somewhere else because they knew we were serving search warrants in that area, but we will still be going out looking,” Nelson said.