OHIO -- Following another attack earlier this month by a pit bull or pit bull mix that resulted in the death of a family pet, the Portage County Dog Warden’s Office has filed misdemeanor charges against members of a Ravenna Township family who allegedly kept vicious dogs.
Deputy Portage County Dog Warden Jason Williard said the incident happened on Sept. 7 in Ravenna Township when a pit bull / Dalmatian mix got through a hole in a fence at 3537 Lovers Lane and attacked a Pomeranian owned by the Decker family, who live next door.
According to Belinda Decker, her neighbor’s dog chewed through a vinyl-coated chain link fence and attacked Haley, her 12-year-old daughter’s toy Pomeranian.
“Our neighbor across the street saw it happen,” Decker said. She said the neighbor described the larger dog shaking Haley “like a rag doll.”
Portage County sheriff’s deputies arrived after Decker called to report the incident. They called Williard, who conducted an investigation and filed charges.
Connie Condos, 50, of 3537 Lovers Lane, was issued a summons to appear in court on two first-degree misdemeanor charges of failure to properly confine a vicious dog and failure to obtain liability insurance for a vicious dog.
Her son, Tracy Condos, 28, of 3326 Lake Rockwell Road, Shalersville, also was charged with failure to obtain liability insurance for a vicious dog, a first-degree misdemeanor, Williard said. He was at the Lovers Lane address when Williard arrived and had a pit bull with him.
Williard said Tracy Condos’ dog was not running loose, but did not have a $100,000 liability insurance policy on it, as required by state law.
Court records did not indicate an attorney for either Connie or Tracy Condos. Arraignment hearings on all the charges are set for Oct. 5 in Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna, according to court records.
The hole in the fence between Decker and her neighbors was still there as of Friday, she said. She said she and her family are afraid to go outside following the attack, and her daughter remains distraught over her dog’s death.
“We’re very upset, very angry,” Decker said. “People need to be more aware of pit bulls in their area.”
Portage County Dog Warden Dave McIntyre said the incident was one of at least four this year
involving pit bulls attacking other dogs or humans that his office is aware of.
A Rootstown woman’s dog was fatally mauled on July 15 by two pit bulls allegedly running loose on Greenwood Road. She also suffered injuries to her hands and arms trying to rescue her dog.
In Suffield, McIntyre said a pit bull owner suffered serious injuries to her arm after her own dog attacked her. That dog was shot and killed by the owner’s boyfriend, McIntyre said.
In another case for the dog warden’s office, a pit bull bit an emergency medical technician in Aurora in June while he responded to an emergency call. The owner allegedly did not have liability insurance.
(Record Publishing - September 18, 2011)
