Dog’s death cues algae-toxin tests

A Cleveland-area lab told Metro Parks officials yesterday that it detected toxins produced by algae in a Three Creeks Metro Park pond where a dog drank water and later died…

..Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are common in Ohio lakes and streams but grow thick in water after feeding on phosphorus from manure, fertilizer and sewage that wash into waterways. The algae can excrete liver and nerve toxins that can sicken people and kill pets, fish and wildlife.

A preliminary Ohio Department of Agriculture report concluded that the dog died of severe anemia attributed to internal blood loss consistent with a bleeding disorder. The report said algae blooms can produce toxins causing liver damage that affects blood clotting, but rat poison can also affect it…

…Metro Parks also will test water samples from lakes at Prairie Oaks and Battelle Darby Creek metro parks, Deputy Director Larry Peck said. Dogs swim in those lakes.

Peck said he didn’t know the concentrations of toxins found in the Heron Pond water but that they were at potentially lethal levels.

The fatality was the first reported pet death in Ohio this year that might be associated with a toxic-algae bloom…more

Man who had almost 400 dogs admits cruelty

… A man who hoarded nearly 400 dogs on a farm he rented in Clark County pleaded guilty yesterday to five misdemeanor counts of cruelty to a companion animal.

Howard Jeff Burgess, 57, of Xenia, was charged after Clark County humane agents seized 361 dogs in February from a property he rented west of Springfield.

...No other humane society in Ohio had ever dealt with a seizure so large, and simply finding shelter for the animals was an immediate problem.

The dogs — 387 by the time several litters were born after the seizure — were kept at the Franklin County Fairgrounds until April 8, when the last one was shipped out. Hundreds of volunteers worked round-the-clock to care for them until each one could be sent to a rescue, another shelter or a permanent or foster home.

Burgess initially had been charged in Clark County Municipal Court with 46 counts of cruelty to a companion animal, but prosecutors agreed to dismiss all but the most-serious of the offenses because, under Ohio law, Burgess can be sentenced only to a maximum of 18 months in jail. These five counts could earn him that much time.

Michael Sheils, chief prosecutor for the city of Springfield, said he has asked the court for a mental evaluation of Burgess before he is sentenced later this month.

“The hoarding issues need to be explored,” Sheils said. “The goal must be to minimize the chances of this ever happening again.”…more

Gerberry: Animal Cruelty Law Stalled in Columbus

The Mahoning County Sheriff's Office plans on filing animal cruelty charges against a Berlin Center woman Friday...

But some state legislators say Ohio's laws don't have enough strength to deal with these situations.

“Yes, the laws in Ohio need to be strengthened,” said Rep. Ron Gerberry, D-59th District. “I have been working on trying to get Nitro's Law [HB 108], which would specifically deal with animal abuse in kennels now for two terms.”

Gerberry said the bill has not yet made it to the state Senate. He originally wanted the law to apply to most, if not all, animal owners. It would allow animal abuse charges to go from a misdemeanor to a fifth degree felony…see video