Dog warden says there were no legal grounds to impound dogs in Colerain Twp. mauling

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11-03-2025

After Colerain Township officials rebuked the actions of the dog warden following a dog attack last week that left a woman severely injured, Hamilton County's top animal control official said there were no legal grounds to impound the animals.
During a public meeting Tuesday morning, the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners likewise criticized the decision of the dog warden not to impound two dogs that severely injured the woman in suburban Colerain Township.
The commissioners echoed concerns voiced by township officials in a letter issued Sunday, in which the township condemned what they described as the dog warden's decision to allow the dogs to remain in the community, despite the nonprofit's staff relaying to police that the dogs were 'too vicious' to take in.
"When it was in our hands ... I just feel like we let it slip through," Commissioner Alicia Reece said during a public meeting on Tuesday.
Hamilton County Chief Dog Warden Beth Ward said that her officers did not shirk their duty to the community and labeled as untrue the township's assertion that officers refused to take the dogs because they were too dangerous.
More: Thousands of Ohioans are attacked by dogs each year. How to avoid bites, protect yourself
"Our primary goal is the safety of people and animals in our community," Ward said. Hamilton County contracts its animal control and shelter services out to the nonprofit Cincinnati Animal CARE.
Officers responded Friday afternoon to Applevalley Court after receiving reports of an attack involving two dogs and arrived on the scene to find a woman with severe injuries to her arms and a man with a small hand injury, police said.
Police said the woman, Emily Rentschler, was driving down the street to pick up her children and noticed the dogs were loose. She was attacked when she tried to corral the dogs. Her boyfriend arrived as she was being attacked and placed her inside his truck.
The attack was witnessed by Rentschler's children, who called 911 to report what happened. Officers eventually corralled one of the dogs inside the owner's backyard and the owners were able to secure the second dog in the backyard after they arrived home, police said.
Deputy dog wardens will investigate after a dog bite incident is reported to authorities and have discretion as to whether dogs spend a legally mandated 10-day quarantine period at home or in the shelter, Ward said. Such quarantines are primarily meant as a public health precaution against rabies but can also serve as a safety measure to keep dogs out of the community.
She added that any police agency can enforce the state's animal control laws.
Ward said that owners in the Colerain Township incident wanted to quarantine their dogs at home and deputy wardens determined the owners were capable of doing so. She noted that the dogs lacked any history of violence, although her officers determined the dogs to be vicious.
"We took everything into account (and) made a determination that it would be safe for them to quarantine in that home," she said, adding the dogs are being crated and only allowed outside for bathroom breaks while on a leash.
Ward said her office and county public health officials visit owners' homes in cases where an animal is being quarantined at a residence.
The owners are also making arrangements to euthanize the dogs after the quarantine period ends, Ward said. She added the dogs' owners were cited for failure to confine, failure to license and failure to display a license.
Dogs bite about 17,000 people a year in Ohio severely enough to require medical attention or to prompt calls to law enforcement. Experts estimate the actual total is double that because so many bites go unreported.
An investigation by the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau found that gruesome dog attacks happen despite warnings, complaints and previous attacks that went unheeded by dog owners and unpunished by the legal system.
More: 'It looked like a murder scene.' Why Ohio dog wardens want harsher penalties for attacks
Under Ohio law, the owner of a dog that disfigures or even kills someone is likely to pay a fine that's little more than a traffic ticket. The law also does not require that a vicious dog be euthanized after such an attack, even if it results in a fatality.
Ward said that while her office can impound a dog for the 10-day quarantine, it's ultimately up to a judge to decide an animal's fate, including whether it receives a lifetime designation as being dangerous or vicious, or if they're euthanized.
She said that impounding a dog requires justification and a probable cause hearing might be held to determine whether the dog warden had legal authority to impound the animal.
Ward said she wants the dog warden's practices and procedures to be legally upheld, adding that she'd like the state to update its laws about dangerous dogs and to have more deputies to cover the county's 52 square miles.
"We want a safe community for Hamilton County," Ward said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Dog warden defends her officers' response after Colerain dog attack