Animal advocates call for change to Ohio law after viral video

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – After a video of 40 dogs wearing heavy chains and living in swampy conditions in Delaware County went viral, some Ohio residents are calling for stricter animal welfare laws in the state.

All dogs were removed from the Delaware County property on April 7 after a TikTok video sparked public outrage, showing the animals wearing heavy chains, confined to waterlogged patches of mud with only blue barrels for shelter.

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Delaware County Dog Warden Mitchell Garrett said the owner of the property was on the county dog shelter’s radar since the owner moved there in 2020 and they began receiving complaints. At the shelter’s first visit to his property, they observed six dogs living outside but within the parameters of state law, Garrett claimed.

After the ninth visit, Garrett stated the man’s attorney said any future conversation or visit would need a court order. While the county continued to field complaints about the property, Garrett said no one was willing to go on the record with their claims.

In light of the events in Delaware County, numerous Ohio residents are calling for the state to pass stricter animal welfare laws through petitions, social media posts and contacting lawmakers.

“There needs to be some way that these agents can go into a [situation] like this and feel like they have the backing to be able to take dogs out,” said Marci Dop, founder and director of nonprofit Rico Pet Recovery. “I do know that anytime there’s a situation like this, everybody tells us that their hands are tied.”

In Ohio, there is no statewide limit on the number of dogs an individual can own, although depending on the individual’s location, they will need to register as a kennel once they own a certain number of dogs. There is also no law restricting the tethering of dogs outside, unlike nearly half of U.S. states.

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“There’s not a limit on the amount of time at the state level of how long you can keep a dog outside,” said State Director of the Humane Society of the United States Mark Finneran. “Really the rules and laws are around the conditions that dog is being kept in. Does it have access to food and water, and ‘adequate shelter.’”

Finneran stated while vague terms in Ohio law such as “adequate shelter” can provide dog wardens and humane agents flexibility, it can also make it difficult for them to enforce the law.

“The goal is for a humane agent or somebody, even if they don’t have access to be able to do a full investigation of someone’s property and have a warrant and everything, you can kind of tell pretty quickly, okay this meets those criteria or it doesn’t,” Finneran said. “Again because of the way Ohio’s law is set up, it’s a little bit more of a judgment call so everyone’s going to interpret that differently.”

Finneran said other states, such as Tennessee, have started to create more concrete definitions of adequate shelter. Some requirements in that definition include having a shelter that is enclosed on all sides and contains bedding material.

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“There are states that do this better than Ohio,” Dop said. “Our county officials, our dog wardens, prosecutors and these humane agents in the state of Ohio are restricted and I think that those laws need to be changed.”

Although there is no state law limiting tethering and Ohio has vague requirements for adequate shelter, numerous cities and townships across the state have passed their own animal welfare-related ordinances.

Columbus residents could be charged with a misdemeanor if a dog is chained outside between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. or during severe weather. Bexley and the city of Delaware (not Delaware County) have passed similar ordinances placing limitations on tethering, according to nonprofit rescue group Columbus Dog Connection.

Multiple cities have also passed adequate shelter ordinances, including Delaware, which requires a dog shelter to, among other things, have moisture-proof floors and be raised off the ground.

After four years of being on the county shelter’s “radar,” the owner of the 40 dogs is now facing misdemeanor charges, including 26 counts of cruelty to a companion animal and four counts of failure to register a dog or dog kennel. The animal cruelty charges were filed due to multiple dogs having abrasions, sores and/or scarring where their collars were, with one dog needing its collar cut off. Some charges also claim the owner was housing dogs with others that were hurting them, as well as not providing adequate shelter.

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The Humane Society of Delaware County and Rico Pet Recovery are coordinating donations for the 40 dogs removed from the Kingston Township property. The Humane Society and the county dog warden are currently housing the dogs. The dogs will be placed into foster homes through Rico Pet Recovery – Dop said there is a “line of people” ready to take the dogs into foster care.

Although the Delaware County Dog Warden said it could not share photos of the dogs at the shelter because the investigation is ongoing, Dop said they were “adjusting” and “doing great.”

“They are getting out into the outdoor facilities every day, and spending some time in the yard,” Dop said. “[They’re] able to run without their chains. They have all been seen by a vet so they’re doing really well.”

Dop said Rico Pet Recovery is still looking for potential foster homes as well as accepting donations that will go directly to the dogs recovered from Delaware County – more information on fostering and donating can be found on their website.

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