Ohio Laws regarding animal cruelty/neglect

Our job is to uphold the laws in Ohio regarding the care and treatment of animals. The Ohio law regarding animal cruelty is Ohio Revised Code 959.131. It states:
(B) No person shall knowingly torture, torment, needlessly mutilate or maim, cruelly beat, poison, needlessly kill, or commit an act of cruelty against a companion animal.
(C) No person who confines or who is the custodian or caretaker of a companion animal shall negligently do any of the following:
(1) Torture, torment, needlessly mutilate or maim, cruelly beat, poison, needlessly kill, or commit an act of cruelty against the companion animal;
(2) Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance, confine the companion animal without supplying it during the confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food and water, or impound or confine the companion animal without affording it, during the impoundment or confinement, with access to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, or excessive direct sunlight, if it can reasonably be expected that the companion animal would become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of or due to the deprivation, confinement, or impoundment or confinement in any of those specified manners.
Our job is to enforce this law to the best of our abilities. When we respond to a complaint we are looking for specific things. These are: Clean water in a nontippable water source, a sturdy doghouse with four sides, complete floor and a roof with bedding (straw, cedar chips) inside. Food does not need to be present, but we do examine the animal's body condition. The area around the animal needs to be free of debris and clean.
We consider an animal healthy when we see no visible signs of hip bones, spine and ribs. A glossy coat is also a good sign. There should be no heavy flea infestestion.
If an animal is thin we inquire whether there are health reasons for the condition. If none exist, then we as about types of food. Any type of dollar general, generic or store brand food does not typically put weight on an animal. It's mostly a filler based food, containing little to no protein or any other necessary nutrients.
We do realize that there are many things that people feel are unacceptable, and we do as well. However, just because it's not the way you or I may keep our pets does not mean that the owner is in violation of Ohio laws.
While Ohio's laws regarding animals are lax compared to other states, we are enforcing the law the best we can.

Meet Lucas, our mascot.

We first met Lucas January 31st, of this year. The Richland County Dog Warden's told us about a call they had received regarding a stray dog. They went to the complaintent's house and found Lucas frozen to a chair on the front porch. They informed us that he was one of the thinnest dogs they had ever seen that was still alive. They also said that he was very friendly and really liked being around people. This is what Lucas looked like when we first saw him. He weighed in at a mere 14lbs, and was about 10 months old. He easily should have been about 3 times that size at that age.






After his three day stay at the RCDW office, which is mandatory for all strays, we brought Lucas to our shelter. He had the equivalent of bed sores on his hips from being so thin and his bones rubbing on his skin. He had numerous scars, scratches and cuts on his face, head and ears. He was dehydrated and still thin (although he had gained 5 lbs during his stay at the RCDW), but he was so happy to be around people.


We put him on puppy food, four small meals a day. Within three weeks, he gained 30lbs and a whole heap of energy to go with it. We kept him in our laundry room, and he loved nothing more than to lay in a basket of towels fresh from the dryer. He hated us taking his towels from him. He was smart, he was rotten, he was adorable...we were in love.




Fast forward to the present, Lucas is wonderful. He now weighs almost 60lbs. He's been through obedience training where he received an almost perfect score. He's been neutered, vaccinated and heartworm tested. He goes to all events that we can take him to, and has visited numerous schools and daycares. He loves people of all ages and other dogs and cats as well. He currently plays with Luca, our other pit bull during the day when he's not out visiting. He is a perfect example of how resilent dogs really are. He was starved, frozen and probably 24 hours from death. Through it all, he never lost his love or trust of people. He's our happily ever after. He will be staying at the shelter or with a foster mom until his forever home is found, but he will make someone a very lucky person once they take him home.