Highest Court in Ohio Rules that All Dogs and Cats Deserve to be Protected from Cruelty

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling and held that the state's companion animal cruelty statuteapplies to all dogs and cats, not just those who are owned by humans. The decision followed an amicus brief submitted by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) in February 2024 in support of applying the statute to an unowned kitten who endured terrible cruelty in Ohio. The kitten has since been adopted into a loving home.

The case that the court reviewed, State v. Kyles, involves the heartbreaking abuse of a small, black, 8-month-old kitten who was doused with bleach in the stairwell of an apartment complex, resulting in severe ulcerations to his paws, which were chemically burned from the bleach. The decision that was reviewed initially came from the Ohio AppellateCourt, which held that the only way a dog or cat is covered by the statute in Ohio is if a human is providing them with care. Since the kitten in this case had no known owner and appeared to have just been laying around the apartment complex where the defendantlived, the lower court held that he was not receiving care and therefore did not deserve to be protected as a companion animal under the state's law.

"The people of Ohio have a robust history of prioritizing animal protection," said ALDF Managing Attorney David B. Rosengard. "This includes by flagging cruelty against companion animals, including dog and cats, as particularly anti-social and concerning. Unfortunately, a lower court ruling drastically undermined that law, by requiring animal victims to be receiving human care in order to count as a companion animal. We are pleased that Ohio's highest court agreed with the legal interpretation argued by the state, ALDF, and other amici: Companion animal status is not dependent on whether an animal does or does not receive human care."

The amicus briefsubmitted by ALDF was co-authored by the Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Protection Agency, and the Cleveland State University David H. Braff Animal Law Center and Clinic. The brief argued that the court fundamentally misunderstood and narrowed the law enacted by Ohio voters. While receipt of care is one way to show that a dog or a cat is a companion animal under state law, it is not the only way. Being within someone's custody, or under someone's control, are each additional facts that would independently qualify a cat as a companion animal - and because the kitten victim here was under the defendant's control when the crime took place, the crime was committed against a companion animal. The decision from Ohio's highest court extends even beyond this argumentto hold that all dogs and cats in Ohio are companion animals, period.

Ohio ranks No. 18 in ALDF's U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Ranking Report, which ranks the animal protection laws of all 50 states.