09-03-2025
Watch our 20-minute documentary ‘Vicious: How dog attacks maim and kill Ohioans'
Every year across the state, tens of thousands of Ohioans are mauled by dogs, sometimes suffering catastrophic injuries, long-lasting trauma and crushing medical costs.
Avery Russell, 11, of Columbus, is facing years of surgeries to rebuild her nose, repair scars and replace her ears after being attacked by pit bulls while on a playdate with a friend in June.
Michael Palmer, 51, of Lakemore in Summit County, doesn't like going out in public because so many people stare at him. In December 2022, his neighbor's dogs bit off his ears, thumbs and an index finger. He can no longer work as a machinist or play guitar.
And the Echelbarger family is struggling to make sense of how two pit bulls − who were on the radar for the neighborhood, police and dog warden − viciously killed Jo Echelbarger, 73, as she worked on her garden outside her condo in Pickaway County.
Explore the project and read our coverage: VICIOUS | An investigation into how dog attacks maim and kill Ohioans every year
Victims of horrific attacks, and the loved ones of those killed, want to see Ohio lawmakers bolster state dog laws. They want felony charges for dog owners in certain vicious attacks and euthanasia for dogs after the first serious injury or fatality − changes that some lawmakers have tried, and failed, to enact.
Watch the full documentary below.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Watch premiere of 'Vicious: How dog attacks maim and kill Ohioans'
