‘Becoming more outraged': Are animal abuse rates going up in Northeast Ohio?

Yahoo

21-06-2025

**Related Video Above: Dog survives one of the 'most graphic' animal abuse cases Friendship APL has seen
CLEVELAND (WJW) — The dog arrived with gruesome stab wounds to the face and neck with blood matted into her fur. Pieces of Ivy's ear were missing. The team at Northview Animal Clinic in North Ridgeville got to work saving her life.
'Brutal. It was one of the most brutal cases of animal abuse I've seen,' said Greg Willey, executive director of Elyria's Friendship Animal Protective League, whose humane team was called in to help with Ivy.
According to a police report, Terry Thomas of Sandusky brought his 8-month-old pit bull puppy to the clinic to get checked out on May 17, reportedly later telling authorities the dog had been punished for relieving herself on the floor.
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Perkins Township police arrested Thomas two days later, and he was charged with felony animal cruelty under Goddard's Law.
Ivy was signed over to the APL and is currently recovering at a foster home (as seen in the photos below). Thomas was released from jail on a personal recognizance bond due to a medical condition, according to Sandusky Municipal Court, and pleaded not guilty to the fifth-degree felony.
Thomas faces a year in jail and a fine of $2,500 if found guilty.
Ivy's case is just one of dozens that have been covered by the local news since the start of 2025 in Northeast Ohio. Willey said their humane cases made up 6-8% of their intakes just three years ago. That number has now jumped significantly to more than 23%.
But are dog abuse cases going up across the region, state and nation, too?
EXACTLY WHAT ARE WE SEEING
In May alone, the following took place. A man in Erie County was accused of using a hammer to kill a puppy. Police officers in Mansfield rescued a puppy named Ezekiel — reportedly left behind by evicted owners — that was discovered so near death he was unable to stand or lift his head. In Bedford Heights, a man was indicted after he was reportedly caught on camera throwing and dragging his dog in a stairwell.
While Willey with Friendship Animal Protective League said they're taking in more humane cases, Sharon Harvey, President and CEO of the Cleveland Animal Protective League, explained she is not seeing more per se.
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'What we know is there's a lot of it right now, and humane societies certainly are seeing these cases, they are being taken extremely seriously and people are becoming more outraged, which is good,' Harvey said.
Harvey said data kept by the Cleveland APL does not reflect an uptick in humane cases.
She explained there is certainly a 'feeling' that cases appear to be going up, but that could be attributed to multiple factors.
First, she said the public in general seems to be paying attention to animal cruelty cases and speaking out against them. Second, the media continues to report on some of the worst of the worst cases of neglect and abuse, especially when individuals are charged, bringing more awareness.
'I think we've seen some societal shifts,' Harvey said. 'Largely, what we're seeing is a massive awakening. These crimes matter. These lives matter. And many are aware.'
There is no statewide database of animal cruelty cases, and a nationwide database was only added to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System in 2014; it started tracking in 2016. However, the FBI's Crime Data Explorer found only 70% of jurisdictions reported their data by 2022, leading to major gaps in official totals.
Add in that many cases of abuse go unreported to police and it's extremely difficult to determine how many animals are abused each year, let alone if totals are on the rise, according to the Humane World for Animals, a nonprofit formerly known as Humane Society of the United States.
Still, area animal rights activist Mike Smeck, who is the director of Nitro's Army, said his group is seeing more cases of neglect, starvation and abandonment throughout Northeast Ohio.
CURRENT AND PROPOSED LAWS – DO THEY WORK?
While Smeck said he didn't have exact numbers, he explained the group dwindled down in the year or two after Goddard's Law — named for FOX 8's legendary meteorologist Dick Goddard, which makes causing serious physical harm to a companion animal a fifth degree felony — was passed in 2016, but that they've roared back into action.
Nitro's Army was started to fight for justice for a dog named Nitro that died while staying at a Youngstown kennel in 2008. Nitro's Law, which makes animal abuse at kennels a fifth-degree felony, was passed in 2013.
Most recently, the group has held rallies at courthouses in support of Ivy the dog and also Duke, a dog that was chained in a freezing garage earlier this year and had to be euthanized.
'The laws aren't doing anything to deter people,' Smeck said. 'We're trying to make the public aware of the cases, and get the public engaged, and get them to feel the same way we do.'
New state legislation, Senate Bill 64, was introduced in February by Sen. Al Cutrona (R-Canfield) to upgrade charges for some animal cruelty offenses and require maximum prison terms. The bill is currently in Senate committee.
WHAT COULD BE AFFECTING ABUSE RATES
Willey with Friendship APL said that it's hard to nail down exactly what's causing more humane cases in Lorain County and why it appears they are not alone.
'We may never know,' he said. But he has theories.
'I think there are two things, the pandemic increase of mental health issues that we're seeing nationally and locally,' Willey said. 'And the other is economic — people are struggling to not lose their homes and other struggles.'
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when families were home together with not much to do, more than 23 million households took in new pets, according to data from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Activist Smeck said that people didn't necessarily know what they were getting with a new member of the family.
'Pandemic pups — a lot of people were home and they got pets,' Smeck said. 'And I don't think a lot of these people were prepared to be a pet parent. It's not cheap. You've got flea, tick, and heartworm medication, plus these people who were homebound during COVID, they weren't socializing the dogs.'
Harvey with Cleveland APL wondered if overall, people are waiting longer to reach out for help, leading to neglect cases seeming worse.
'We may be seeing more of an intensity,' Harvey said. 'One can speculate that some of that could be due to the economic climate; that people are having more trouble affording their animals.'
'Most of this stuff is just sad and human,' Willey said. 'Most of these people need real help, and the animals do too. People are hurting and the price of things is just going up.'
HOW TO HELP
Most animal shelters in Northeast Ohio are full or close to full, and advocates don't anticipate that changing anytime soon.
Here are some ideas for those looking to help animals and animal rights groups in Northeast Ohio:
Adopt a new pet into your home
Volunteer with a nonprofit or foster pets in the interim to their forever home
Donate to local shelters and humane societies. Even $5 goes a long way to help animals and continue wrap-around service programs that offer financial assistance for those in need
Talk to a legislator about animal laws you'd like to see changed
Help neighbors who may be experiencing hardship
Report major animal abuses you may see in your community. Find a list of Ohio animal rescues and shelters right here. Ohio animal emergency numbers can be found right here.
FINDING THE GOOD
These horrific acts pile up, and they weigh on those who arrive on the scene or help take in pets that do survive, multiple animal advocates told FOX 8. These people keep showing up to work or to volunteer or to rally even when it hurts too much and they wish they could gather up all of the animals in their arms and save them.
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'If I didn't believe in hope and change, I wouldn't do this,' Willey with Friendship APL said.
In the case of Ivy the dog, he said there's 'plenty of hope.' Ivy is doing well in her foster home and is 'not so timid. She has a lot of love to give,' he said.
Willey said that coming into work reminds him that not everything is 'glum.'
'Coming down here, you are brightened that there are so many people dedicated to making the world better,' Willey said.
Harvey with the Cleveland APL too, said the group of people she works with are the light.
'The good is our team and seeing our compassion and doing everything in our power to help the animals,' Harvey said. 'To see them go out the door and have an amazing life, that's the good.'
'We can get bogged down by the horrible lows,' Harvey said. 'But there are many, many more happily ever afters.'
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