John T. Dunn, 35, of 9007 S.R. 14, was freed on a personal recognizance bond following his arraignment Monday in Portage County Common Pleas Court in Ravenna. He entered the not guilty plea through his attorney, Mike Giulitto.
Judge Laurie Pittman also ordered Dunn to remain on electronically monitored house arrest while awaiting trial in January. He will be allowed to go to work, she said.
At the request of the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office, Pittman ordered Dunn to surrender any dogs in his possession to the Portage County Dog Warden’s Office until all court matters are concluded.
She also ordered Dunn to pay the dog warden for the dogs’ care and upkeep during that time.
Dunn was indicted last month by a Portage County grand jury on six charges, including two felonies carrying up to 18 months in prison each. He is charged with allowing his pit bulls, Brutus and Sable, to run loose on Greenwood Road in Rootstown.
There, the dogs allegedly attacked and mauled to death a 2-year-old cocker spaniel named Lucky during an attack on July 15.
Lucky’s owner, Marie Hustead, 70, also was injured in the attack trying to save her beloved Cocker Spaniel and required surgery and stitches on her arms and hands.
Authorities allege Dunn allowed his dogs, which are considered vicious under Ohio law, to run free without leashes and without legally required insurance policies.
Giulitto asked Pittman that only Brutus be surrendered to the dog warden, with Sable allowed to stay in Dunn’s care. He said his client now has insurance on the dogs and two locked pens they can stay in.
Assistant Prosecutor Eugene Muldowney objected to that request.
“These dogs have a propensity to run free,” he told Pittman, noting that Dunn faces additional misdemeanor charges after the dogs were found Aug. 27 roaming free without leashes or tags in the Streetsboro Kmart parking lot. “They are statutorily vicious dogs (Dunn) has allowed to run free.”
A hearing on the most recent charges is set for Sept. 29.
(Record Publishing - September 13, 2011)
Earlier:
