Charges filed after dog attack

Man faces two counts stemming from incident on East 34th Street

A 45-year-old Lorain man pleaded not guilty to two counts of confinement of dogs after a small dog was attacked while on a walk.

Jason James, of 2522 E. 33rd St. in Lorain, entered the plea July 28 before Lorain Municipal Court Judge Thomas J. Elwell Jr. He is now set for a pretrial at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 9 in Lorain Municipal Court Judge Mark J. Mihok’s courtroom.

A vicious dog hearing also will take place where the owner of the dogs will be present.

By law, Elwell must give the owner 10 days notice before a vicious dog hearing can take place.

Multiple reports have been filed in regard to the two dogs, Gucci and Blue. Robert Renney, the owner of the 11-year-old dog that was attacked, told Elwell that there were five adults trying to stop the attack.

“Two weeks (until hearing) is a long time when there’s been repeated occurrences with these dogs not being dealt with properly by its owners,” he said. “It’s very, very hard to accept that we need to be placed in that kind of danger.”

Donald Zelenak, who was at James’ arraignment, said his cat was killed by the two dogs.

“I got a 2-year-old boy that plays in the back yard, and their dogs are vicious,” he said.

Renney said after looking at the police report, it seems that the dogs killed Zelenak’s cat and then attacked his dog not long after that.

According to a police report, at 12:14 p.m. July 22, Lorain Patrolman Richard Broz was dispatched to East 34th Street in regard to a loose dog killing a cat. While he was on the way, another call came in of two dogs attacking a smaller dog on the same street.

Witnesses stated they saw two dogs attacking a Corgi/spaniel mix being walked by the Renney and his daughter. The report said Renney’s daughter was covering their dog with her body and arms. Eventually they were able to chase the dogs away, and Renney took his dog to the veterinarian.

Broz wrote in his report that he was able to locate both dogs and they were taken to the Lorain County Dog Kennel.

According to the report, the owner later picked up both of her dogs. Broz spoke to her on the phone, during which she stated she was working during the incident, but James was at home and told her he put the dogs outside for a short time and they disappeared.

He told police he put the dogs outside to relieve themselves and returned to watch a movie. They were gone when he looked outside later, and he found two broken boards at the bottom of the fence.

“Though not the owner, he was the responsible party for the dogs at the time of the incident ...” Broz’s report said.

Renney said his dog received puncture wounds and gashes around the head and neck area, but is doing well.

Broz explained in his report that residents have expressed concern and fear for the safety of people and animals in the neighborhood. He wrote that there have been many instances of the dogs getting loose and harming other animals.