How many kinds of bad is this? 1) having breed specific legislation (BSL) in place. 2) Ditto CAME FROM another shelter that verified he was NOT a Pit. 3) acording to at least one Dogster who saw news video, Ditto looked nothing like a Pit. 4) The family had been warned before that the Shelter was watching Ditto since he had been seen running loose around the neighborhood. 5) The next door neighbor actually CALLED in apparently Kill-hungry Champaign County Animal Warden Mandy Randall to come get Ditto! What’s up with that? She or he couldn’t simply walk over and tell the Hupps their dog was in his or her yard? I bet they felt REALLY threatened with a one and a half-year-old Boxer! I wouldn’t want to be THAT neighbor now. How many kids did they say this family has? If it had been my neighbor I sure wouldn’t let this go by without some massive payback. Nothing deadly but a whole lot of trouble! 6) According to the various news articles, Randall (who claims to have 14 years of experience but somebody needs to be doing a reference check about now!) seems to not know a Pit mix from a Boxer!!!!! Who hired this person? 7)Instead of following due process which would have allowed for time to prove Ditto NOT to be a pit, the family reports that Randall intimidated them. What a gem of an animal control officer!
To add insult to injury, the original shelter, the Ohio Clark County Shelter, gives Ditto’s family another dog as if dog’s are interchangeable items. What insensitivity and stupidity! Also, if the family had shown itself unable to care for Ditto because they can’t seem to keep their pets at home or on leash, why in the world would you give them another chance with a dog until they had proven they have learned something in all this. I understand the crying kids and all that but shouldn’t a shelter have the DOG’s welfare uppermost in mind, not assuaging the family’s feelings of guilt?
Thanks Dakota for letting us all know about this shameful situation!
Dakota wrote:
Innocent Boxer accused of being a Pit Bull was executed.
Poor Ditto, a boxer mix, was executed in the Urbana Ohio Champaign County Shelter for being a pit bull.
Ditto was adopted from the Springfield, Ohio Clark County Shelter by a loving St. Paris, Ohio family with five children. In an interview with Clark County Sisler, he stated that the Clark County Humane Society adoption records listed Ditto as a boxer mix and the society doesn’t adopt out pit bulls or pit bull mix dogs as pets.
An investigation is being led by the local SPCA President Teresa Landon and she informed, “This is not the first Champaign County situation that has come through in an e-mail, but it seems to be building, and people are stepping forward.” The investigation focuses on complaints about improper procedure, violations of Ohio Revised Code and threat tactics.
Only pit bulls and pit bull mixes can be characterized by their breed to be “vicious,” according to a 2004 Supreme Court ruling and, therefore, subject to stiff penalties when found running at large. All other dog breeds must be determined “vicious” through a court process, said Clark County Chief Deputy Dog Warden Ben Smith.
Petition organizer Myrna Mudray began circulating petitions last week after hearing allegations from county residents about Randall’s treatment and attitude toward dogs. So far she has collected approximately 100 signatures. She wants to collect more signatures and present the petitions to commissioners within two weeks.
Here’s one of the articles about the incident. This one is from the Springfield News Sun
Champaign County dog warden described as “assertive”
By LaToya Thompson
Staff WriterThursday, August 31, 2006
URBANA Clark County Humane Society Director Ed Sisler said he describes the Champaign County dog warden as “bold” and “assertive.”
Sisler said he has a good working relationship with Mandy Randall, Champaign County dog warden, since 1997, when he became director.
But he didn’t agree with her decision to euthanize a St. Paris family’s dog, an incident which sparked a petition demanding Randall be fired and an investigation from the Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
More information can be found at:
Springfield News Sun
Or check out this article in the Urbana Citizen that talks about how the Hupps’ neighbors called in the questionable Director Randall. Randall the intimidated the Hupps into signing over Ditto so she could kill him faster! It just gets worse and worse!
