November 7, 2017 a Dog Warden officer was dispatched to the 800 block of Selma Rd. for a report of a dog possibly being starved. The officer spoke with the owner who said she had a license for the dog, but it was not attached to the dog’s collar. She accompanied the officer to the back yard and the officer saw that the dog was extremely thin. The water in his water bowl was dirty and not of drinking quality and there was no food in his food bowl. The owner said that the dog refused to eat anything. She put food in the dog’s bowl and the dog ate the food. The owner said that she may want to release the dog to someone and would notify the officer of her decision the next day. She did not call. The officer called the owner on November 9 and the owner said that she was going to keep the dog. She was advised that the Police Department was requesting a report on the dog’s medical condition and that she would have to take him to a vet. The vet examined the dog, did blood tests and determined that the dog’s condition was caused by malnutrition. The dog was turned over to the Clark County SPCA. The owner was charged with cruelty to animals and with not displaying the dog’s tags. She plead guilty in Clark County Municipal Court on December 1, 2017 . On January 29, 2018, she was sentenced to 33 days in jail, ordered to reimburse the SPCA $133 that they spent on the dog, ordered to pay court costs and barred from owning a dog for five years.
December 28, 2017 a Dog Warden officer was dispatched to Rodgers Dr. For a report of a stray dog biting a child. The officer arrived to learn that the child was not actually bitten, but just tried to, and that she owned the dog. The owner said that the attempted bite happened inside her home, not outside as originally reported. She had deceptively contacted the Springfield Police Dept. claiming that a stray dog bit her child and used the Dog Warden’s office on emergency duty. She abandoned her dog using false and deceptive information. She was charged with falsification, obstructing official business and abandoning animals. She plead guilty in Municipal Court on January 30, and the case was dismissed.
December 5, 2017 a Dog Warden officer was dispatched to the City of Springfield compost pile for a report of a dog that was suffering. The Supervisor for the Public Works Division stated that he was sent to the 1500 block of S. Center St. to pick up a deceased family pet. When he arrived at the compost pile with the dog, he found that it was still alive. The dog was very thin and had an obvious infection in his right eye. The dog was dispatched soon after. Dispatch was contacted and played a recording of the dog’s owner asking that it be picked up because it had died a few days ago. The SPCA Humane agent was on scene 20 minutes after the dog was killed and reported that the amount of decay was greater than what should have occurred within 20 minutes. She determined that the decay process began while the dog was alive. The owner was charged with cruelty to animals
December 29, 2017 at approximately 3:49 p.m., a Dog Warden officer was dispatched to Glenn Ave. in Springfield regarding an abandoned dog. The officer found no one home and did not hear dogs barking. She posted a notice on the door to contact her office. On January 4, 2018, the officer returned to the residence to follow up and did not get a response at the door. Her first note had been removed, so she left another. On January 7, the Springfield Police Department get a call about dying dogs at the Glenn Ave. address. A Sergeant tried to contact the owner by phone but did not receive an answer. He followed up with a visit at 10:07 the next morning and found the Dog Warden’s note on the door. He could hear a dog barking and posted notices requesting contact within 24 hours. The Sergeant contacted the reporting party who said the owner has not been back to the house since Christmas. On January 9, the Sergeant returned to the home and saw his notes still on the door and no fresh prints in the snow. He could hear dogs barking. He looked in the window and saw a thin dog with matted fur. He also saw a small, very thin pit bull in a locked kennel. The pit bull was not moving and not responding to anything. A male subject pulled up and said that the owner had moved and that he could contact her. The owner soon called the Sergeant and said she was on her way back from Kentucky and would be there in about two hours. She said that her cousin was caring for the dogs, and the Sergeant said he needed to hear from her. At noon, the Sergeant had not heard from anyone, so he left a message on the owner’s voice mail that he would remove the dogs in two hours if someone did not respond. He also contacted the owner of the residence and received permission to enter. At 2:15, officers entered the home and found a pit bull in a cage full of feces. There was no food or water and the dog was dead. Another dog was thin with matted fur, body sores, overgrown nails and very dirty. The house was in deplorable condition with no heat or electric and broken water pipes. The residence was secured and the dogs were taken to a veterinarian for examination. The owner of the dogs was charged with abandoning animals, cruelty to animals and failure to register the dogs.
November 30, 2017 a Dog Warden officer was dispatched to the 5300 block of Urbana Rd. on a report of a dog stuck in a fence. The officer arrived to find a male bulldog mix with a small injury to his back foot. During intake at the Dog Shelter, the dog was found to be microchipped. The registered owner said that she had given the dog to a woman from Urbana. The new owner said that she had two people caring for the dog while she searched for a place to live that would accept dogs. The two caretakers were contacted, and they said they dropped the dog off at the Humane Society Building that was closed and assumed that someone would be there “within an hour or two.” Both were charged with abandoning animals.
