A Hamilton woman who escaped an animal cruelty conviction in August has been charged again after an abnormally thin pit bull was seen crawling out of her apartment Monday.
Elizabeth Lewis, 19, of Timberhill Drive, was charged with cruelty to a companion animal and failure to license a dog the day after Butler County Dog Warden Tonya Henson saw the condition of the woman’s pet, named Bruiser.
Hamilton police were called to an apartment building on Timberhill Drive about 9:30 p.m. for an emaciated dog that appeared to have fallen down the steps. Police immediately called the dog warden.
Henson ordered Lewis to take the dog to a vet clinic to be euthanized to end its suffering, according to Meg Stephenson, executive director of the Butler County Animal Friends Humane Society.
“It is a miracle the dog could crawl out of the apartment. It couldn’t even stand … it was dying,” Stephenson said.
Henson visited the veterinarian Tuesday and learned the body temperature of Bruiser, before he was put to sleep, was so low it didn’t register on a thermometer, and the condition of the dog was a direct result of starvation.
Henson said she also took custody of a second dog in Lewis’ care on Monday night.
“I wasn’t leaving any animal in her care,” Henson said. “I am going to ask the court that she not even be allowed to own a goldfish.”
This is not the first time Lewis has been charged with cruelty for treatment of Bruiser, Stephenson said.
The dog was brought to the animal shelter in August by a dog warden. At that time, Bruiser was lethargic, malnourished and weighed 17 pounds.
In October, Lewis was found not guilty of a cruelty charge in Hamilton Municipal Court by Judge Dan Gattermeyer. Bruiser was then returned to Lewis.
Stephenson said when Bruiser left the facility on Oct. 5, he weighed 38 pounds.
“It is devastating. We tried to intervene early and it didn’t go our way,” she said. “This is unacceptable, and she needs to be held accountable.”
Because Lewis was not convicted, the shelter had to return the dog to her.
“We tried to get her to sign him over to us several times,” Stephenson said.
Lewis told the JournalNews on Friday that Bruiser was her baby, and she did what she was financially able to do to help him.
“He ate that morning and the night before,” Lewis said. “I didn’t starve my dog … he was my baby.”
Lewis said Bruiser had hereditary mangle and worms that made him sick.
“I didn’t have the money to take him to the vet,” Lewis said, adding the dog’s health went up and down. “He would gain weight and be OK for a few weeks then start loosing again. I thought he would snap out of it. I had hope for him.”
Larenzo Franklin, a neighbor to Lewis, said he hadn’t seen the dog outside for several months. The last time he saw the animal, Franklin said a man was walking the dog and had kicked it hard in the face while it was going to the bathroom.
“How do you sit in the house and watch something starve?” Franklin said. “That’s sick; that takes some kind of person.”
Stephenson said Lewis’ claim that the dog was sick is “bogus.”
“He had no trouble gaining weight when he was here,” Stephenson said.
Lewis said the animal cruelty charge in August was a result of a dispute with a former roommate.
“I was found not guilty because I wasn’t guilty,” she said.
In the August case report acquired by the JournalNews, Emily Curry’s said she found Bruiser whimpering in Lewis’ room after Lewis had indicated the dog had been removed from the apartment. Urine and feces were on the carpet, food in the dog’s bowl was covered with old moldy cheese and a half-eaten sandwich and the water had a film over it, Curry said.
“We removed Bruiser from the room and tried to see if he would walk. He would shake as he tried to stand. That’s when we noticed how thin and malnourished he was,” Curry said in her statement dated Aug. 19.
Gattermeyer said he could not ethically comment on Lewis’ case.
Lewis is scheduled to appear in Hamilton Municipal Court at 8 a.m. March 6. The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Staff writer Hannah Poturalski contributed to this report.
Bruiser on Oct. 5, 2012, when he was returned to the care of Elizabeth Lewis, 19, of Hamilton.
Bruiser on Monday, Feb. 25, when he was removed from a Hamilton home by the Butler County Dog Warden
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