Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
A downtown rally to promote Nitro’s Law was prompted, in part, by the recent killing of two German Shepherd puppies.
The dead puppies were found around 2 p.m. Monday in a median island on West Federal Street near Western Reserve Transit Authority’s Federal Station, downtown, police said. The puppies were black and brown and had string wrapped around their legs and neck, according to reports.
A half-dozen advocates of House Bill 108, or Nitro’s Law, gathered Tuesday evening at the corner of Federal Street and Wick Avenue in honor of the puppies.
The law would make certain acts of animal neglect a felony. Nitro was one of the dogs that was starved to death in 2008 while in the care of High Caliber K-9 Kennel on Coitsville-Hubbard Road.
Melissa Glancy, of Austintown, said the rally was organized through Facebook by a group of people who already support Nitro’s Law. She said they wanted to give a voice to the dogs that were killed Monday.
“This animal abuse, how it’s escalating, is proof that it should be a felony offense,” she said.
Mike Smeck, of Amhurst, Ohio, said he came to Youngstown for the rally after hearing about the puppies.
“I was just disgusted,” he said. “It’s a terrible thing, what was done to those little puppies. It’s time for Ohioans to stand up and speak out for these animals.”
The Learning Dog Training and Enrichment Center in Hubbard is collecting money for the capture of those responsible for killing the pups.
Money collected will be given to Youngstown Police Department to be used as a reward for information leading to an arrest, according to a news release.
For more information or to donate call 330-534-4990 or stop by The Learning Dog at 757 N. Main St., Hubbard.