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‘Was I to wait for the next attack?”
VIENNA
After my mother and I were attacked in our garden by two dogs last summer, I felt unsafe in my neighborhood.
The dogs belong to my neighbors. They still do, even after I went to the hospital to get several stitches.
The attack was caught on video: I am pulling weeds, my mother standing nearby.
They had been chained on a metal runner but broke loose, and within seconds, the two pit bulls jumped at us.
The video shows one of the dogs biting my right elbow and biting my mother’s wrist; then my mother grabs its chains and holds it back.
The other dog latches onto my arm and pulls me down. I jump back up, but it quickly grabs me again and starts yanking aggressively, my arm trapped in its mouth.
The neighbors hear my screams, run out of their house and pull their dogs off us.
It lasted only seconds, but when it was over, there were holes in my arm deep enough to see fatty tissue, and a whole lot of blood.
I naively believed the police or some kind of local authority would make things right.
My attack happened a day after the same dog that attacked me got loose and bit a young boy. A week earlier, the other dog got loose and lunged at my elderly pug. The officer who responded to my 911 call knew about the attack the day before. I asked what the police would do.
He said I could shoot the dogs next time they came into my yard.
Police cited the owners for letting their dogs get loose, a $150 fine.
The dog warden deemed the dogs dangerous, which doesn’t have much of an impact when the state laws are too vague for law enforcement or dog wardens to interpret. Sure, they had to increase their liability insurance to $100,000, but some other stipulations – such as when dogs need to be muzzled – are not clear to law enforcement and dog wardens.
For months I felt angry. Was I to wait for the next attack? Was I expected to be on guard at all times, weapon in hand?
I realized that I had to go over the heads of my local police department, the dog warden and the other officials I originally turned to for help.
Something had to change on the state level.
It simply wasn’t fair that people with dogs that harm other people only had to pay a small fine.
After studying the current laws, I sent letters to state representatives and senators, outlining the issues and explaining my story.
State Rep. Glenn Holmes of Girard, D-63rd, agreed to help. That was last year.
Last week, he and state Rep. Niraj Antani of Miamisburg, R-42nd, hosted a news conference at the statehouse in Columbus.
I was there, and so was the family of a young girl, Savannah Coleman of Dayton, who was mauled by a loose dog and had to undergo a four-hour surgery. She had a skull fracture and several cuts, and now has to go to therapy for the psychological damage done.
The legislation these state representatives will introduce in the 133rd General Assembly is identical to legislation originated by Sen. Bill Beagle, a Republican from Tipp City, that stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee in February 2018.
Former Trumbull County Dog Warden Gwen Logan and other officials reviewed the proposed bill and made recommendations to improve it.
Under this bill, which is not breed specific, owners of dogs that kill or cause serious injuries to a person will face a fifth-degree felony charge, which currently results in a six- to 12-month stay in jail and a $2,500 fine. The bill also will grant dog wardens the power to arrest owners after a serious attack and increases the amount of years a felon must wait to own a dog from three to five years.
The bill carries exceptions for certain situations.
Beagle introduced the bill after 8-year-old Klonda Richey was killed by a dog in 2014, resulting in misdemeanors for the dog’s owners. Another person had been killed by a dog in Dayton since then, and there have been other noteworthy attacks in that same city, including Savannah’s.
Referring to Savannah, Antani said at the news conference: “If a human did that to a child, or to another person, the number of times that it has occurred, there would be pandemonium in the streets.”
Dr. Robert Lober, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Dayton Children’s Hospital, said his hospital’s emergency room sees roughly 300 dog bites a year; about 40 of them require surgery.
Some may say a felony charge is extreme. Yet, if a person stabbed me and caused the exact same injuries as the dogs did, that person would be charged with a felony. If a person hit Savannah in the head with a hammer to fracture her skull, there would be a felony charge. So why is it different when an irresponsible owner fails to train and restrain a dog that causes harm?
This is clearly a statewide issue. The Ohio Department of Health said there were 14,000 reported dog bites in the state in 2017, and 22 people have died since 2010 in dog attacks all over the state. I’ve been in contact with Nickie Benjamin of Cincinnati, for example, who’s son had to get 200 stitches after his face was mauled by a dog that had previously attacked two other people. The dog’s owner faced no repercussions.
Even in the Mahoning Valley, there have been several attacks.
A woman was injured in Newton Falls last year from an attack by three German shepherds.
An elderly woman in Warren was hospitalized after a dog got loose and attacked her, injuring her neck last year.
A Liberty woman’s Sheltie died when her neighbor’s dog got loose and killed it last year.
Shawna Achten of Hubbard almost lost her dachshund when a neighbor’s dog got loose and attacked it last year.
These are attacks resulting from owners who are irresponsible.
Antani made it clear he and Holmes are willing to compromise on the nonpartisan bill to get something done.
As I told reporters at the statehouse, it’s time to hold irresponsible owners accountable.
Maybe these penalties will make these owners think twice.
Samantha Phillips is a Vindicator reporter.