OT - Another reason to hate Ohio (The State) - Insane dog attack laws

Submitted by cKone on October 5th, 2022 at 10:12 AM

Needless to say I am furious so please excuse any grammar and spelling errors. I will not get into anything about the dog's owner due to the civil suit we will be filing, but I never would have guessed how little recourse a victim has when it comes to being attacked by a vicious dog in this state.

I live in a village about 1 hour  East of Cincinnati.  Last Thursday night around midnight I took my 35lb lab mix dog out before bed.  A neighborhood pitbull that weighs over 90lbs and frequently runs loose in the neighborhood charged to attack me in my yard with my dog on a leash. 

My dog, which is 1/3 of this dog's size jumped between me and the attacking dog and ended up being badly mauled. We are only hopeful that she will get full use of her leg back. 

The attacking dog hit my dog with such force that he drove her into my chest and knocked me to the ground and was tearing her apart on top of me.  I was finally able to get out from under the fight, but was unable to separate the dogs until the neighbor heard me screaming and came to pull the dog off.  

When all was said and done and my dog had received reconstructive surgery on her leg, I tried to file a police report.  I was referred to the dog warden.  The owner was cited and issued a fine, but according to state law the since the dog did not kill my dog and did not get ahold of a person the dog cannot be confiscated, can not be put down and won't even be added to the vicious dog list.

If a person had come onto my property, tried to attack me, and my dog was injured in the process, the attacker would be arrested, jailed, tried and incarcerated.  Why in the hell is there no resources for a vicious dog?

I know many of you on this board live in Ohio. If you do I hope you will take a few minutes to contact your state rep and demand that the laws be revised.  It's only a matter of time before this dog gets loose again and kills a dog, or heaven forbid, a child.  This dog could very well kill an adult male.   

MGoBoard

crg

October 5th, 2022 at 4:02 PM ^

As has been pointed out by others, people often unfairly vilify a dog because of it's breed - especially when given the rather arbitrary title of "dangerous breed" (e.g. pitbulls, bulldogs, Rottweilers, mastiff, and huskies).  It is rather ironic given today's culture, since all dogs are of the same species and can interbreed... hence this is (in a strange way) almost a form of "racism" just applied to a non-human species.

Despite being an owner now of a mixed-breed "dangerous" dog - and around them otherwise for much of my life - I have only once been "seriously" (i.e. not by a puppy) bitten by a dog: a Golden Retriver that got spooked (not it's fault) and ripped open my arm at, of all places, a fundraiser for the Humane Society.

It's *never* the breed of the dog - always the way it was raised/trained/socialized/treated.

Edit: meant to point out another absurd overreaction to so-called "dangerous" dogs... in the UK there are four breeds completely banned in the nation, such that they can be taken from their owners and destroyed simply for existing in the country (exemptions can be made but are rare).

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dog-breeds-uk-banned-dangerous-b2041399.html

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BTB grad

October 5th, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^

I’m so sorry, that’s awful. Nothing pisses me off more than this recent trend of off-leash dogs because people say they can “trust & control” their dog. It makes me very afraid when I come across them on walks. People cannot control how another dog (on or off leash) will react or how people will react (dogs can sense fear and coming across a fearful person will elicit a reaction from the dog). People need to throw a fucking leash on their dog when they’re outside of their home.

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Angry-Dad

October 5th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^

It's about respect.  You may have the best dog in the world, and if you do they won't mind being on a leash.  Just because a dog is not agressive in a vicious way does not mean that everyone wants them to come up to them, especially without a leash.  Some people are sincerely scared of dogs.  Some people don't want your dogs slobber all over them, etc.  

I love dogs, I don't like inconsiderate dog owners. 

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Don

October 5th, 2022 at 10:26 AM ^

I would take advantage of whatever social media platform you use to publicize what happened to you.

I would also seriously consider filing a lawsuit.

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Blue@LSU

October 5th, 2022 at 10:28 AM ^

Wow. I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your dog. I'll have her in my thoughts and hope for a full recovery of her leg.

I had the same thing happen to me about three weeks ago. I was walking my little (about 12lbs) terrier mix and a big pitbull charged and attacked my dog. I was able to pick him up while the dog still had his teeth sunk into my dogs skin. Luckily the owner came out and pulled his dog away, and my dog escaped with stitches and a tube inserted into the wound.

I hate to hear or witness attacks like this because, while the dog is certainly to blame, I don't like to see or hear of any dog being put down. Personally I was more pissed at the owner for letting his dog be in a position where it could attack another dog or a person. After I dropped my dog off at the vet, I went over and chewed the owners ass (only to find out he's a cop).

Owners need to be responsible for the behavior of their pets. Whether that is making sure there is a secured fenced in yard, keeping it on a run while outside, etc. 

Again, so sorry this happened to you. Best wishes for your little one.

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mGrowOld

October 5th, 2022 at 10:32 AM ^

So not nearly as bad as your story but I too live in Ohio and have issues with "off the leash" dogs - specifically at our summer home on Middle Bass Island.  For whatever reason there is a large contingent of dog-owners who take the attitude "It's an island, let my dog run free" when they're up there.  But I like cleaning up someone else's dog shit as much as a do listening to them bark so we push back against this line of thinking.  And there are no cops on the island so laws or no laws on this wouldnt help us.

Our next door neighbors have two labs, one yellow & and one black, and they're mean.  Yup, mean labs and as others have noted, there are no mean or nice breeds - just good or shitty dog owners.  Anyways, compounding that problem is we have cats and we've built a cat tunnel with a cat tent so they can go outside on our property.  But the neighbors liked to let their fucking labs run which scared the living hell out of our cats.  This summer we got the daily double - dog ran over and got aggressive with the cats and then took a shit on our yard at about 8:00am so I went over and woke my neighbor up and told him the following:

1. Get over right now and clean your dog's shit up, I'm not.

2. If your dogs EVER come onto our property again it will be the last thing they do on earth.  If you love your dogs, keep them on your property or on a leash because i do not love them and will fix this problem if you do not.

Neighbor hasnt spoken to me since.  Dog's oddly enough havent step foot on the property since then either.

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JMo

October 5th, 2022 at 10:54 AM ^

Terrible story, glad there haven't been any additional issues. That said... 

This is my favorite part of the whole thing

we have cats and we've built a cat tunnel with a cat tent so they can go outside on our property. 

 

Cat-based construction is some of the best YouTube viewing I've been turned on to in the past year. The amazing tunnels and elaborate "buildings" people will construct for their cats to go out in the snow, or at night, or whatever reason, is both fascinating and hilariously fun to me.

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I'mTheStig

October 5th, 2022 at 10:36 AM ^

Regarding your comments about the laws, you'd have the same experience (depending on municipality) here in Colorado.

... and a lot of Front Range communities are rolling back their previously implemented pitbull bans due to popular demand and claims of such policies being racist.

Also since it's Colorado, when I lived in COS, which is still an open carry city, a loose pitbull attacked my neighbors dog just as you've described here and that neighbor shot the pitbull and took care of that problem.

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Tuebor

October 5th, 2022 at 10:53 AM ^

You have to be careful with that.  Generally speaking, not all States have identical laws regarding self defense, you can only use deadly force if you fear for your life or someone else's life.  

As much as we love our pets and consider them family members, in the eyes of the law they are property.  Generally you can not use deadly force to defend property. 

If your local laws allow it you should carry some kind of spray and use that on an aggressive dog rather than deadly force.  That will keep you out of jail and away from prosecutors evaluating the reasonableness of your use of force.

Open carry laws have little to do with self defense laws.  Just because you can carry doesnt mean you will be justified in use.

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I'mTheStig

October 5th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ^

You have to be careful with that.  Generally speaking, not all States

I guess you missed the part where I clearly wrote:

Also since it's Colorado

If someone 1. takes my post as advice or 2. doesn't follow their laws, that's their problem not mine.

Open carry laws have little to do with self defense laws.  Just because you can carry doesnt mean you will be justified in use.

You have zero idea what you are talking about.

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The Geek

October 5th, 2022 at 10:46 AM ^

carry some pepper spray or something and have it ready on your dog walks. i feel terrible for you, having to go through that and have so little control. very happy your pup is still alive and is able to recover completely. 

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harmon40

October 5th, 2022 at 2:59 PM ^

My wife and I have a dog sitting side hustle, and after 10 years with no trouble I’ve had two dogs attacked by pit Bull mixes in the last month.

I did not have dog spray with me, but I’m not sure if it would’ve been helpful. In the first situation, a dog broke away from its owner in the park, made a beeline for the dog I was walking, and attacked. The two dogs were circling each other very rapidly as they fought, it would have been impossible to have sprayed only one of them.

in the second case, it was not clear that the pit mix was going to attack until the moment he did. He approached the dog I was walking, sniffed at her, and then reacted to her skittishness. I’m not sure at what point I would’ve used the spray.

Having said that, I’m thinking it might be worth it to have with me going forward. It’s better than nothing, because walking a dog that is being attacked by a pitbull or pit mix is freaking terrifying. 

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aleng

October 5th, 2022 at 10:53 AM ^

To underscore your second to last paragraph, if you had stepped in with say a knife and killed the dog attacking your dog, you could be held liable and prosecuted. Had a friend in Ohio who did that and ended up with a felony conviction. I'm still dumbfounded by it and get angry whenever I think about it.

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cKone

October 5th, 2022 at 11:03 AM ^

I wasn't carrying at the time because I was in my pajamas and had left my weapon and cellphone on my dresser.  I was only going into my backyard after all. Since the dog had both me and my dog pinned down on the ground, I would hope I would have been justified in protecting myself. Even when I got out of from under the pile my arm was tangled in the leash between the dogs.  I was truly in fear, not only for my dog, but also for my life, and that's not something that I am saying to justify anything.  It was the honest to god truth.

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RGard

October 5th, 2022 at 11:40 AM ^

As the backyard isn't safe, I'd carry next time.  A baseball bat would work fine too if you don't want to be in a situation where you are discharging a firearm near a domicile.  

Best wishes for a full recovery for your dog.  She sounds like a great family member as she put herself in harm's way to protect you.  

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drjaws

October 5th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^

it isn't hard to understand but i'll explain briefly using an analogy.

strange guy comes in your yard and starts attacking you out of nowhere so you shoot him = self defense.

strange guy comes in your yard and attacks you. two days later you see the guy and poison him to death = murder.

 

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rice4114

October 5th, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^

Correct me if im wrong but what I think Blue is saying is going to get the gun after this attack is done and over and the dog went back to it house/yard is still well after the fact much like the antifreeze. It is more of an observation of the boards sentiment as opposed to a "yeah lets do that".

Unless you guys are imagining a scene where this attack happened, it was done and over, the victim went in got the gun (maybe even loaded it) got back outside and shot the dog because it was just hanging around?

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