HOLMES COUNTY, Ohio — The Holmes County Dog Warden's Department is searching for someone who, it said, has been seen on security footage outside the Holmes County humane society - illegally dumping dogs, leaving them in the cold for hours without food, water, or shelter.
Pets are like family members, but for some, that’s not always the case. In a video posted by the Holmes County Humane Society, shared with News 5, a red truck pulled into a driveway on April 4 around 9 p.m. The driver took out a dog and then tied it to the front porch of the building.
Holmes County Dog Warden Jonathan Beam said it’s disheartening to watch because it's not the first time it's happened
“First two he put in cages. They were inside of creates and left overnight and the second one was a lab, and she was just tied to the railing there at the office,” said Beam.
In two separate instances, two huskies and a lab were left outside for over 10 hours with no shelter, food or water. Beam suspects it's the same person and also suspects they don't realize the humane society is for cats only, but still.
“It’s illegal to abandon a dog like that and to leave it out overnight with food water or shelter,” said Beam.
2024 is off to a rocky start; in the first quarter, the Holmes County Dog Warden surrendered 140 dogs compared to 90 dogs in 2023's first quarter. 2023's total was 419 dogs helped.
“We see it, we are trying to work through it, sometimes it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel looking at last year's numbers and this year's numbers so far,” Beam added.
Beam is now working with county commissioners like Dave Hall to build a new dog shelter, which would double the capacity and include a clinic.
“That way we can address even the spay and neutering issue or just the health care and get these family friendly pets out to loving families,” said Hall.
As a former Ohio state representative, Hall helped write Goddard's Law, which makes companion animal dumping a felony in the state.
“Goddard's law wants to make sure you’re not knowingly harming your dog or abusing it,” added Hall.
Beam said he won’t stop looking for whoever is responsible for this latest incident, adding it’s too difficult to tell if this was a puppy mill situation.
“We’ve prosecuted in the past so that’s something we do not tolerate here,” said
All three dogs that were dumped have since been adopted. However, Beam warns if you have any unwanted dogs in Holmes County you need to bring them here to the dog warden's office during office hours. They are open 6 days a week. Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For now, no arrests have been made in this case and the investigation remains ongoing.
If you know any information about this incident, you are asked to call the Holmes County Dog Warden Department at (330) 674-6301.
