Neighbor Refuses to Give Loose Dog Back

A Portsmouth woman called police after a neighbor found her loose dog — and then refused to give it back because she believed the animal wasn’t being properly cared for. Portsmouth Police responded to Robinson Avenue after the dog’s owner reported that her pet had gotten out of the house two nights earlier. The woman told officers she had been unable to chase after the dog because her foot was in a cast. She later spotted a Facebook post from a woman who had found the animal and contacted her to arrange to get the dog back. But the woman who found the dog refused. According to the police report, she told officers she believed the owner was not taking proper care of the animal. Police retrieved the dog and returned it to its owner. Officers also explained what should happen if there are continuing concerns about the animal: contact police or animal control rather than keeping the dog. Think an Animal Is in Danger? Report It Finding a loose dog can put someone in a difficult position, particularly if they believe the animal is being neglected. But concern about an animal’s welfare does not automatically give a neighbor the authority to permanently keep someone else’s pet. Ohio law gives dog wardens authority to seize and impound dogs found running at large under circumstances covered by state law. If a dog warden believes an animal is being treated inhumanely, the warden is required to notify the humane society or appropriate law-enforcement agency. And when an officer has probable cause to believe a companion animal is the victim of an animal-cruelty offense, Ohio law allows the officer to seize and impound that animal. That means the safer course is to document what you see and call the people who have the authority to investigate. If an animal appears to be in immediate danger, injured, without necessary food or water, exposed to dangerous weather or being actively abused, contact law enforcement or animal control. Ohio’s cruelty laws prohibit, among other things, depriving an animal of necessary food or water and confining an animal without adequate protection from weather when the conditions could cause suffering. When making a report, be as specific as possible. Useful information includes the animal’s description, the address where it is being kept, what you actually witnessed and when it happened. Ohio’s animal-cruelty reporting law uses those same types of details when describing what should be included in a report. Pictures or video taken legally from a place where you are allowed to be can also help document an ongoing problem. For animal-related nuisance complaints inside Portsmouth, the city says its Environmental Health Division investigates animal complaints and accepts complaints anonymously. The important distinction is between protecting an animal during an immediate emergency and deciding for yourself that someone should no longer own their pet. If a dog repeatedly gets loose or you believe its living conditions amount to neglect or cruelty, make the report and let animal control, police, a humane agent or the courts determine what happens next. In this case, officers returned the dog to its owner and advised the neighbor to contact authorities if problems with the animal continued.

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