Three of the 17 dogs that were confiscated Jan. 21 from a residence near Peebles have been reunited with their owners, including one from as far away as Missouri, Adams County Dog Warden Donnie Swayne said Friday.
While Highland County Dog Warden Cathy Seifer says that the dog from Missouri has stirred speculation that the two women arrested in connection with the incident may have been involved in some kind of illegal dog trading, Swayne says he does not believe that is the case.
“Sometimes I have my suspicions, but I just don’t believe the girls had any means to get anywhere,” Swayne said. “They could have, but I haven’t got any signs of that.”
Former Hillsboro resident Olivia Gale Yost, 27, and Molly Elizabeth Salser, 26, were both charged with petty theft and tampering with evidence in connection with the incident.
Seifer said that on Sept. 12, 2016, acting Hillsboro Municipal Court Judge Susan Zurface placed Yost on probation and ordered her not to possess dogs in Ohio for two years due to numerous incidents of letting dogs runs at large and not properly caring for other animals.
One of the dogs that the Peebles case was built around was returned almost immediately to its Peebles area owner. A white husky that Fox News 19 reported had disappeared from a Moscow Mills, Mo. home in November has also been returned. A chihuahua whose owners had moved to Florida since their dog went missing was returned to the owners’ daughter, Swayne said.
He also said that a girl from Highland County called him Friday to say one of the dogs belonged to her. He said the caller said she had given Yost one of the pit bulls that was confiscated.
Pictures of the dogs can be found on the Adams County Kennel Club’s Facebook page.
Swayne said that in most cases the dogs, which are being housed at the Adams County Kennel Club and the Adams County Humane Society, will be returned if someone can provide some type of proof of ownership like dog tags or a picture.
But he also emphasized that the 14 remaining dogs are still part of the case and cannot be released until the Adams County Sheriff’s Office says they can.
A call to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office seeking information on when the dogs might be released was not immediately returned Friday.
Once they are released, Swayne said all of the remaining dogs will be put up for adoption.
“We’re getting a lot of calls now asking when the dogs are going to be released because people want to adopt them,” Swayne said. “It’s one of those things where it seems like when we have a lot of dogs, usually nobody seems to want them, but when we have something like this everyone seems to want them. It seems like a lot of people want these dogs.”
The Adams County Kennel Club posted a message on Facebook saying that it is getting more calls than it call handle. The message asks anyone wanting information to call 937-544-2431 from 2-4 p.m. only.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or [email protected].
