Warren cop forced to release dog to owner after it bit someone

WARREN

The Warren Police Department animal control officer was forced to release a dog back to its owner last week despite it biting a woman — because the owner didn’t have the money for the Trumbull County Dog Kennel take the animal.

A 25-year-old woman walking toward a house on Jefferson Street Southwest was bitten on the hip at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 by a brown and white pit bull. The bite left a puncture wound that was bleeding when police arrived.

An officer spotted the dog and a second one on Hamilton Street near Nevada Avenue. Both were barking and appeared to be aggressive, and they were near a church that was having a funeral with about 80 people standing outside.

A light brown dog was snared by the animal control officer, and the other dog ran to a house on Nevada, where police went to speak to the owner.

The owner said she can’t control the dogs, they don’t have shots, she doesn’t have homeowner’s insurance, and she doesn’t have the $56 each required by the Trumbull County Dog Kennel in Howland to take them for her, so police left her with both dogs.

Gwen Logan, executive dog warden for the kennel, explained that the $56 is the $20 fee to take each dog and separate $36 license and fine per dog for not having licensed the dogs in the past.

Because the brown and white pit bull bit someone, the state rabies law is also in play that requires the owner to quarantine the dog for 10 days and obtain a report from a veterinarian at the end indicating whether the dog is “sound,” meaning the dog didn’t have rabies when it bit the person, Logan said.

If the dog is sound, it means the person who was bitten doesn’t need to receive rabies treatment.

“Dog wardens in Ohio have the authority to take stray animals. By law we don’t have to take owner dogs,” Logan said. She added that animal-rescue organizations are the place to turn to if someone has a dog that they can’t afford and can’t handle.

Owning a dog is a responsibility and has costs, Logan said. People should not get a dog if they can’t or won’t accept that responsibility, she said, adding that Ohio law requires every dog to have a license.