Officers responded to multiple reports of animals in danger over the weekend.
Just before noon, a Walburn Avenue caller said there were multiple dogs left outside and that the homeowner hadn’t been home in days.
Deputies noted the dogs and a cat appeared healthy and there was shelter and water available but no sign of food. Officers weren’t able to find the owner.
Around the same time, a Green Street caller told deputies she found two dead animals in her yard. One of them was the neighbor’s cat, and it appeared someone shot it.
When officers arrived, they found a dead possum as well as the deceased cat. The officers said it appeared the cat was shot as well as the possum. They explained to the owner that it’s legal for people to shoot animals that come onto their property and that it was best to keep animals safe at home.
The cat’s owner requested to speak to an officer later in the day after she said her friend told her the dog warden and law enforcement lied and that it was illegal to shoot cats in Ohio.
A deputy responded and explained that people can shoot animals that are on other people’s property. Officers learned the animal was shot because it was stalking rabbits on someone else property.
Neighbors Feud Over Dogs
We’ve told you before about a dispute between Mound Street neighbors over a woman who won’t stop feeding her neighbor’s dogs. Portsmouth Police have been called in to mediate before and warned the woman to stop feeding the neighbor’s dogs.
However, just after midnight, police were called in once again. A man complained that his neighbor was still feeding table scraps to his dogs. He told police he didn’t want his pets to eat scraps because they might make them sick.
Officers spoke to the woman again, but she would only admit to petting them. She claimed the dogs were mistreated. However, the Health Department had already been called in to check on the animals and they said the animals were well taken care of.
Officers once again warned the woman to stay away from the dogs.
