Report exonerates Greene County Animal Control officer in death of dog named ‘Blue’

XENIA — A Greene County Animal Control officer did not do anything to cause the death of a dog named “Blue,” a 100-pound American Bully that died in late October, according to an independent report county administrators commissioned into the animal’s demise.

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Blue’s owner accused animal control officers of acting unreasonably and inappropriately.

Body camera video from Bellbrook police officers show them telling a Greene County Animal Control officer about a dog reported loose and accused of biting someone. The dogs, including the male named Blue, were in a backyard.

The animal control officer, or ACO, went into a neighboring yard and slid a catch-pole over the dog’s neck.

The dog’s owner told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell she believes the catch-pole’s cable tightened on her dog and choked him to death.

But the investigation, conducted by the director of the TCSU [Tactical Crime Suppression Unit], an inter-department police agency serving Dayton’s south suburbs, shows something else.

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The dog’s necropsy was conducted at the Ohio State University veterinary school and the report reads, “the death of ‘Blue’ was listed as ‘natural’ causes.”

This meant there were no signs of strangulation or any kind of abuse to the dog.

Both the body camera video and the various witness statements indicated that Blue started to twist and pull when the catch-pole was looped around his neck and that he dropped within 20 seconds.

“There is no evidence that indicated a reasonable person would conclude that the ACO was intentionally pulling the cable to the catch-pole tighter, or the pole itself, to inflict any kind of pain or injury to the dog,” according to the report obtained by News Center 7′s Campbell.

The report concludes there is no evidence to indicate the animal control officer did anything to cause the dog’s death and that any potential charge of cruelty to animals against the officer is unfounded.

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