This is Episode 4 The Rise to Fame, part 2. If you have not heard part 1 yet, hit pause and check it out before continuing with this episode.

In October, the Rascal unit truck traveled to Jefferson County, Ohio as we did quite frequently during the month. And while we were there, they let us know about this dog named Misty. And Misty was a really sweet to humans pittie that had a really bad encounter with the dog warden. And because of that, they were trying to find her a place outside of Jefferson County to adopt her out because they were afraid that somebody was going to adopt her

for

the wrong reasons. This was a high profile case and one that got Steffen quite a bit of TV time.

Hey guys, it's Keisha and welcome back to Fetch Columbus on Hola TV, brought to you by Rascal Animal Hospital. Today we have an exclusive story of a dog named Misty that get this was hit in the head with a shovel by the Jefferson County dog warden. I do have to warn you that what we're about to show you can be very disturbing. Joining me today, Dr. Gonzalez, woman in charge here at the Rascal Animal Hospital and Steffen Baldwin, CEO of the Animal Cruelty Task Force of Ohio. Steffen, I'm absolutely at a loss for words. Can you tell us a little bit about what we just saw? Sure. So the, uh, the video that you watched is, uh, this dog here, Misty. She was getting, uh, beat over the head with a shovel by the. Former, uh, dog warden of Jefferson County, um, former dog warden. He was fired. Uh, basically there was an incident at the shelter. Um, two dogs that weren't fixed were playing together, something happened and after the fight was over, the dog warden went and, and again, beat her over the head of the shovel. So that's when, uh, afterwards the Rascal Animal Hospital came in and agreed to, to take, uh, Misty outta that situation, care for her medical needs. And we've been working on her rehabilitation ever since. Well, I'm so glad she's obviously in better hands with you and Dr. Gonzalez, but can you tell us what's next for Misty and how's she doing? Uh, Misty's doing great. She was actually labeled as very dog aggressive. Um, and, and she's not, it was a situational reactivity. She was reacting to the situation that she was in. Once we took her outta that situation, put her into a new environment, she stopped reacting. She now plays with six other dogs. She's very dog friendly. Um, she's very interested in cats. Um, but that can be a prey drive thing that's very common with the breed, and people need to know that with the breed in general, it's not something that necessarily needs to be fixed. So she's ready to be adopted. If she can go on our website, um, uh, she'll be up there in about a week or so. Uh uh, ACTOH.org. Absolutely. Well, Dr. Gonzalez, I know Rascal plays such a huge part in animal rescue and rehabilitating these dogs. So tell us how you guys were involved with Misty's case. Well, we have been going to Jefferson County for the last eight years with the Rascal Unit, so we've been doing a lot of spay neuter there, and we have an excellent relationship with the people at the shelter. And even though the dog warden was not the right person for that job, the people that the volunteers there love Misty, and unfortunately, because of the situation, they were unable to adopt her, so they had put her on the euthanasia list. So the person in charge asked me if I knew of somebody that could take over Misty, because they just really wanted to give her another chance. That's when I contacted Steffen, and so Rascal Charities took care of her medical needs. We got her spayed, made sure that her vaccinations were taken care of and everything, and then handed her over to Steffen to work with her so that she could get a good home. Well, Rascal Charities provide such great care for these animals that otherwise, you know, would not have that type of care. So tell us how we can get involved and give back to Rascal Charities. So anybody interested in, in helping and sponsoring an animal, a facility, a group, or, or donation, they can get information on our website, which is rascalcharities.org. Definitely. And Steffen, it's my understanding, you have a website as well. We can get updates on Misty and all the other dogs that you guys help. Yes. Um, that's ACTOH.org, so actoh.org. Thank you. Thank you on behalf of the entire team here at Hola! to both Dr. Gonzalez and Steffen for all you guys do for the animals.

Now Misty should have had a happily ever after. However, because of Steffen's intentions, she unfortunately did not, and we are going to be covering her and the other dogs a little bit later in the podcast. Later in October, I told Steffen that the Adams County Humane Society had another overwhelmed caregiver hoarding case that needed help. We still had funds through Rascal Charities to assist one more case, and the goal was to use this to fundraise for future cases. This was another cat case, and we found one dog which Stephanie Van Brimmer fostered through adoption.

It was in Adams County, Ohio. Um, the Humane Society in Adams County made us aware of this lady that had a lot of cats, um, that was trying to get help. The, the woman would bring us cats on occasion to our spay clinics, but couldn't keep up. Um, same thing. Basically going in, evaluating what was, what was happening, and then providing the spay neuter and veterinary care to the animals. And then having, uh, Steffen deal with the pla, the volunteers to get the animals and then placement of the animals. I said that he needed to make sure to have somewhere for these cats to go. When we went the first time, Steffen and a volunteer and myself drove down to Adams County to evaluate the situation and talk to the lady. Um, it was a little bit of a different situation. Um, it's rural Ohio farmland. So it wasn't, it was just people dumping cats and that kind of stuff. So a lot different than the, than the case in Marion. But similar, as far as what we needed to do, go in, get the cats, get them fixed. Um, this lady, I don't believe that in particular, she wanted to keep any cats. She needed the cats gone because the place where the cats were at, she needed to tear it down to build a, to build a house. Um, so we, you know, we did all that. And then the day that, the day of the, um, of the actual rescue effort, uh, Stephanie Van Brimmer was there and one other, uh, volunteer, and she came in and I said, where is he at? And they said, well, he has other stuff to do. And I then, that was a little bit annoying, but then I asked, does he have somewhere for the cats to go? And they said, no. Um, so Stephanie got him on the phone and she was telling me he doesn't have anywhere to, for the cats to go yet. And at that point I said, then we're not going because I can't do this again. And she said, no, no, no. He said that he'll take care of it. He'll, he'll, he'll get something figured out. So we decided to go. So we brought the cats back to the hospital and um, found out that there was nowhere for the cats to go. So then we had to, um, board the cats again. I wanna say it was about five to seven days. I was pretty mad. He told me that he had a, a room in his house that he wasn't using. So he had found place for some of the cats to go, but that he would just take the cats to, to his house until he could find somewhere for them to go.

We volunteered with, um, well, I shouldn't say we, I volunteered with Rascal Animal Hospital or Rascal Charity and an a dog was surrendered to us. I fostered the dog and then the dog after the dog was neutered. That was the other thing we always, um. Took care of the medical, like, so vac making sure they were up to date on vaccines and then spay or neutered them before we did any adoptions. And then, so I fostered that dog to adoption.

And lesson learned a bit late because now we had no funds. No, I did not. Because I didn't think that I could trust him to do his part. Um, they got depleted and then we didn't really have any, anything coming in to, to do other cases like that.

Now do you agree that all those cats, uh, found a home, but not as quickly as you'd hoped.

I

don't know if the cats found a home. Okay. We, you weren't euthanizing the cats that were not feral, right?

Correct.

Okay. And did Mr. Baldwin in fact tell you that he found a few placements for the cats?

Yes.

Okay. Some of them was to him, some of them went to, uh, someone, I believe up Delaware. Does that sound right?

I

remember Citizens from in Action. Uh, but other than that, I don't remember other places that the cats went to. What about the Farm Cat Project up in Delaware? Do you remember that?

No.

What about DJ Jones? Do you remember him?

Yes,

I remember DJ. Okay, so cats were placed with him. He assisted in placing some of those cats?

I have no idea on that.

Okay. What about the farm out in Bahalia?

I do not know about that.

You would agree that although there logistically were some problems afterwards, that that was an overall success?

It was a success medically, it was not a success for the placement of the animals.

Well, you just said you don't know that.

The animals were at our facility for days and they were not supposed to be there. So that is not successful. It's not, it's not proper planning when we knew what we were dealing with.

Okay.

Would you state your name for the record, please?

Jennifer kasouf

Jennifer, in the summer of 2014, did you also know an individual named Steffen Baldwin?

Yes.

How did you know Steffen Baldwin?

I met him through some friends.

And did you, uh, did you have a dating relationship with him at one point?

Yes.

And do you, Jennifer, do you remember approximately when that was?

Um,

it was July through September. You talked about assisting, um. Steffen Baldwin with, with the care of other animals, cats. Do you remember that?

Yes.

Alright. And you talked about these were cats that were in a hoarding situation?

Yes.

And you thought there were maybe 30 to 40 cats that were on the property, correct?

No, like maybe 20, 30 tops.

Okay. And so how were the cats being housed on Mr. Baldwin's property?

They

were in like a side room similar to what would be used for a living room, um, in dog panels. So what were the conditions of the cats?

They

didn't have like proper litter boxes. They had like cardboard boxes and the urine was soaking through it. Uh, there was no litter. Uh, they needed their litter boxes changed. They needed food. There were kittens that were still nursing. So what, if anything, did you do to try and help the situation?

I

went to the store and got litter and some litter boxes that would fit in the kennels Um, just to kind of get their spaces cleaned up a little bit. And did you actually, um, take any of the animals home, take any of the cats home with you?

I

took a mother cat and her three baby kittens. Um, and why did you do that?

Because

they were not doing well. The kittens were not thriving. They were very, very skinny. Mom wasn't producing enough milk.

Jennifer's relationship with Steffen was short-lived, mostly because she is somebody that actually care about the animals. She's somebody with good morals, with good values, and she also is not about to be manipulated or emotionally and physically abused. As we can see from these conversations that I had with her, he just shows exactly who he is when nobody else is watching.

All those cats that he took in from that 80 cat hoarding situation or whatever, he split up between his house and some other couple who had a broken down shed on the back of their property, and the cats were piled up in cages at their house. I remember saying this is worse than what they were living in before, you can't keep them like this. And he grabbed me by the arm and said it's temporary. I still to this day have no idea what he did with those cats, but I know he took the cats that were at his house and dumped them on a property where a lady gave him a house. He never found homes for them. The only ones that ever made it out of his house were the ones that I took because they were in such severe condition, and some of them were nursing babies and I worked with Colony Cats, and Mona took them in and helped me find homes for them. ​He abused a lot of women. He didn't get that far with me I cut that shit real quick the first time he grabbed my arm when I said something he didn't like. I ripped it out of his hand and was like I promise that you will never do that to me again, because I will ruin you, and he laughed at me but he never tried to do anything after that. but he started to get real abusive with the girls after me​. He'll tell everybody that he broke up with me. And he came to my house after we had separated. I had just had a kidney transplant. I had like 28 Staples in my stomach and was laying in bed, and he came over to tell me that he was leaving me. I had broken up with him over a month before because he couldn't date a sick girl and that my health issues would hold him back from all the good he was doing. I laughed at him and told him to get the hell out of my house, which he actually did and I was surprised about that​.

Now, let's go back for a second to the last question I posted that the defense attorney asked me.

You would agree that although there logistically were some problems afterwards, that that was an overall success?

First, let me say, it looks like I'm rolling my eyes and I don't think I was, I think I was just thinking about my answer. However, it is something to roll your eyes at now knowing what happened then. So his question, was it an overall success? And from my part, I thought that it wasn't an overall success just because he was lazy, he did not do what he was supposed to do. But now knowing that not only did he not find immediate placement for these animals, but he never really found them any placement. And this I didn't find out until years and years later. We took these animals out of bad situations and quite possibly put them in worse situations, and that is something that is just completely unforgivable. I will give props to his attorney, though. He was trying to bring positives into the things that he did, but unfortunately for him, there is just no positive. There is no way to appreciate what he did when he caused so much harm in the end.

All right. So we figure out. Hoarding cases are a no-no. Right? So maybe just dealing with like the cruelty cases. So he hits me up, October 31st and tells me that the A-S-P-C-A, the National A-S-P-C-A had contacted Logan County Law Enforcement because of a complaint about some dying horses. And apparently this had been going on for a while. So even though I have no experience with horses, I was working with forensics. So you know, a skinny horse is a skinny horse, so he asked me to go with him to take a look at these horses. We went, first of all, it was late at night. It was really dark. So this is winter time, right? And it's Ohio, it's pitch, pitch black at like four o'clock in the afternoon. So it was about 9:30 at night. We go to this place. There are no lights. The barn where these horses are no lights. Um, so I'm looking at these horses and taking, taking pictures and taking videos as much as I can, and we're talking to the, to the owner and the horses look horrible, right? So they're like really skinny. Their hoofs are overgrown, they're dirty. Their, the stalls are so dirty. So clearly these horses are in poor condition. They're not being well kept, and then he's talking to the owner and he's asking questions, and some of the questions that he's asking are the right questions. But, there's just like a disconnect. He's asking a question, the owner's giving him a crap answer and he's just taking it as, oh, okay. Uh, best example, he asked about the food. Where's the feed? Perfect question. Let's see where, where you're keeping the food for these horses. Let's take a look. Let's make sure it's not moldy. Let's make sure that it's being stored properly. And the, and the woman says, yeah, I, I have the food, but uh, I mean, I can show it to you. I have receipts somewhere and he just takes her word for it and it's like, oh, yeah, yeah, no problem. So at the end of this, we walk away, the horses are clearly in bad shape and he just leaves it as well, it doesn't look that bad, so we'll just keep an eye out on it. And, an eye was not kept on it. So a few days after the horse barn investigation, um, he had reached out about how he had become a board member of the Top of Ohio Animal Shelter, located in Logan County, in Bellefontaine, Ohio. And basically the shelter was having a lot of problems, both financially and the care of the animals. So they had asked him to join as a board member to help 'em out with basically restoring the shelter. And this was a great opportunity because we had been talking about this whole shelter makeover type thing. So going into shelters, he would do the, the animal part as far as the training behavior and helping with the shelter management since he boasted about all of his shelter experience. And then I would help with the medicine, with the treatment, with the preventive care, and then spay neuter of the animals. Um, I am not going to go into detail about TOPS because we have a full episode coming on everything that happened with TOPS. So definitely stay tuned for that. In November of 2014 Steffen got his golden goose Belle, AKA, the bait dog. Steffen liked to use, Belle the bait dog as a educational dog, but primarily it was really a way to get notoriety, right? Here's this dog that he is saying that was a bait dog, had all these injuries, and you know, just monetizing the sentiment, the emotion of people for this poor dog. Because, I mean, let's face it, Belle looked horrible when she first went into the, into the shelter in Cleveland. Um, she definitely had been, you know, destroyed, like her face, had a lot of wounds and injuries, and they did a fantastic job at patching her up. The first time I saw her, she had some, some minor wounds and stuff that were still healing, but she looked amazing. So we got her fixed and we got her, you know, in good shape. Uh, one of the things that Steffen liked to say was about how she was a bait dog, that she got beat up. You know, it, she was used for other dogs to train. Very quickly we realized that Belle was a shit starter, right? So Belle is that little dog. Uh, she was kinda a chihuahua in a pit bull body. So she would see another dog and immediately she wanted to eat that dog. So it became obvious to us that perhaps she was not a bait dog. Perhaps the fights that she got into. She started them. Um, while with Steffen, she got into many, many, many fights.

My name is Jeanette Reever. I am the program director of animal crimes and investigations with Humane World for Animals, and my specialty is dog fighting.

How long have you been involved in dog fighting investigations?

I did my first dog fighting case in 1996 and I became pretty involved, or I should say full-time job was 16 years ago, when I started doing just dog fighting investigations.

We're going to be basically breaking down this video that was on Daytime Columbus, where Steffen Baldwin brought Belle, who he famously called Belle The Bait Dog. And first, um, let's talk about Bait Dogs. What's the issue with bait dogs?

Well, bait dogs is, is a common, very, very common misconception and myth in the dog fighting world. When you look at dog fighting and you can't train a dog to fight two to three hours, you can't train a dog to push through such excruciating pain and. Just all the trauma that their bodies are forced to endure. So these dogs are bred specifically for the purpose of fighting, and they're bred for genes and genetics, such as gameness. Gameness is when you have the drive and desire to keep fighting even when you're completely exhausted. Uh, there's very recent case, um, where there was undercover footage where the dog had been fought, had a broken leg. The back leg was pretty mangled and the dog continued to push across to get to her opponent to Texas. So you can't train a dog like that. And the problem is, is when people say they claim that a dog is a bait dog, it actually makes all other fighting dogs look like they're monsters. 'cause they're thinking, I just found this beautiful dog. She's covered in scars. She's got fresh and old wounds and scarring. I take her in the house, she crawled up on the couch. She's playing with my other dog. This has gotta be a bait dog. And actuality, if the, the fighting is consistent with it on the, the scarring and the injuries on the, the front of the face and on the front legs, that's consistent with dog fighting. And the majority of the time, these dogs are very, very sweet, especially to people. And it's not uncommon for these dogs to get along with other dogs in certain circumstances. However, you take that exact same dog and put him inside a fighting pit or face that dog off with another dog, like get them face to face, then those dogs are gonna fight. Um, so it's, it's a misconception that people have, um, about that. I can also add that Bait dogs, um, just doesn't make sense. And I use the analogy of Mike Tyson's coming back out of retirement and he's, he needs a sparring partner, so he's not gonna ask me to come and be his sparring partner. He's going to have someone that's gonna be able to withstand his blows, withstand his hits, and actually push back so he can be prepared going into, into the fighting ring. The bait dog is, is a, a tremendous myth and lie that has been exacerbated since, uh, the early eighties, it really took off, um, and fueled the, the flame of, of bait dogs.

So in this case, like we, we know that Steffen basically was using the, the whole bait dog thing just to get popularity and have people be sad and show emotion for this dog who in reality, you know, she got into a ton of fights even after he got her. So she's just, uh, like you said, kinda like a gamey pittie, right? Like a dog that mm-hmm. Another dog. And she is just reared up and ready to go and unfortunately she's small and she's on the losing side of of things. All right, so let's go over this video about Steffen and Belle The Bait Dog.

For quite a few years now, Pit Bulls have gotten a bad rep. The breed is thought to be full of aggressive, violent dogs, but there are groups that are dedicated to changing that stereotype. As part of a Find a Friend segment today sponsored by Rascal Animal Hospital. I'm happy to have Steffen Baldwin back with me, the director for ACT Ohio, which is the Animal Cruelty Task Force. So welcome back Steffen.

Thank you for having me.

First of all, I wanna talk about this gorgeous, people friendly, amazing little dog I have with you today.

Yeah. So this is Belle, and Belle came to us from Cleveland. I got a call from the dog warden up in Cleveland, the chief dog warden. And, uh, they had found her, uh, through part of an investigation where they're looking at dog fighting organizations. And, uh, she is what you typically know as a bait dog. She was bred smaller and used specifically for fighting dogs to practice on. Her teeth have been filed down straight across, so she can't fight back.

All right, so let's go over two things right there. So bait dogs are bred smaller so that they can't fight back.

Yes. Uh, and I think one of the biggest misconceptions also is people think that that fighting dogs gonna be these big muscular dogs when in actuality there are typically around 36 to 45 pounds. Um, so they're very much on the smaller side. So yeah, that's, yeah, that, that's not correct.

And that's one of the things that I didn't know until I started working with you guys, actually with the dog fighting investigations, because every Pit Bull that I see, I always say if it's a Pit Bull, it weighs 60 pounds. Right? Because the, the normal pet Pit Bull is usually around 60 pounds. But then when I went to that first dog fighting case, every pittie was like 30 to 40 pounds. So that's actually the, the common weight for them, right? Exactly. Yes. And then number two, their teeth are filed down so they can't fight back.

And we hear this a lot. And if you look at, at majority of dogs, especially if they're on a chain or if they're in a barren environment, they'll, they'll become frustrated they'll become bored. So they'll start chewing on the chain, start chewing on rock. Or if you have a dog, like one of my dogs, he is a ball dog. He is obsessed with balls, so it actually wears down the teeth and people mistakenly believe that these dog's teeth have been filed down when in all actuality they're actually worn down. There was a board certified veterinary dentist, um, did a talk about this and said, no, it's absolutely not filing down. This is from erosion and wear from them just being frustrated and chewing on chains and rocks and such.

So the other thing that I wanna bring up is, is it true that a pittie, that a fighting pittie that has their teeth filed down, can they not cause damage?

Well, actually there was a, one of the, uh, very, very famous two time convicted dog fighter Ed Faron. Ed Faron had a dog, um, by the name of Vader and Vader was, was Jet Black. He was an an older pit bull. There was, uh, someone that went to his property to purchase a dog from, from, uh, from Ed Faron, and he laughed about Vader and he said, what's that? You know that that junk, why is that junk on the yard, basically? And he said, that's, that dog will take, take down any dog you have. He took one of his dogs, the dog fighter, took it out of his vehicle, turned him loose, and Vader had no teeth because he had just worn them all down to there were just nubs in the gum. He actually killed that dog. He actually went over there and killed the dog just with the sheer pressure and just holding on and basically strangling the dog, if you will. And Ed loved telling that story about how he killed that other dog. So while of course they do need the teeth just 'cause it causes so, so much more trauma and damage to their opponent in the, in the fighting pit, they still have other methods in which they can, you know, that they can still take these dogs down and overpower and kill these dogs.

So basically it would be, it, it would not really help to do that. Like the dog would still hurt, like a, a, a so-called bait dog would still be able to hurt one of these high price fighting dogs.

Right? Absolutely. And uh, and the other thing is, is, um, it's just, it's silly when you think about a bait dog because a Jack Russell Terrier can kill a poodle. You know, it's, it just, it proves nothing. You want it, you want an animal when you're, when you're testing an animal, you wanna make sure that he is, he or she is with an opponent that's going to be at least, uh, at the same quality or a little bit better to see how he or she reacts.

All right, let's keep moving on.

And of course all the scars and, and the pictures of how she came, uh, show kind of her, her history.

Her history. And she has one. We're gonna look at some photos. They may be a bit disturbing to some folks because she was put through a very rough life really, when she was first brought up.

I mean, to put it bluntly, it was hell, uh, you know, that every single day she woke up to get beat up. That was her life. So, and she's come so far now that, that we can use her as an ambassador in schools. Um, and she's just a fantastic, fantastic dog now.

All right. So does it make sense that a bait dog would be able to survive day after day after day of getting beat up?

No. Absolutely not. Um, even fighting dogs, they're not gonna, they're not gonna fight them. They're not gonna roll these dogs into the short schooling. They're not gonna do this every single day because you're eventually gonna break down the dog's spirit, and they're, they're not gonna do well. You wanna make sure your dog is seasoned, meaning that he, that he or she is, has been rolled, has got confidence, he's got the qualities you're looking for.

So another thing would be the location of the injuries, right? So a dog that, in my mind, if a dog is a bait dog, it means that it doesn't wanna fight and that it's gonna be submissive. And those are gonna be different types of bite wounds compared to what we're seeing here, right?

Yes, exactly. And, and studies have shown, and Dr. G, I know, you've testified on this before, um, is that, that there is a bite inhibition for dogs that are not genetically bred for, for dog fighting. There's a dogs that will have a bite inhibition. Um, and when you look at these dogs that have been bred specifically for, to breed out the bite inhibition and to, to really give these devastating bites, it's gonna be so much deeper. The trauma's gonna be so much more, and the placement, like you said, is gonna be completely different.

All right. Moving along.

To be a lot of treatment and recovery that she went through. So what kinds of things did it take to get her to the dog? She is today?

Definitely. We actually have some YouTube videos up on our ACT Ohio YouTube page that go through some of the weeks of her rehab. 'cause it was some of the most extensive rehab. Um, and we really had to dial everything back with her and use less senses. So we started with her sense of smell. She couldn't see other dogs, she couldn't touch other dogs, but she could smell them and, and being in a different part of the house, different room. And we worked really on building her relationship and our bond with the dog and building her trust level while she slowly got desensitized to the idea that other dogs aren't gonna hurt her, other dogs aren't gonna attack her. And

so can you desensitize a fighting dog? Or how is it that they would just be okay with some dogs and not with others?

Um, if, if I could just mention one real quick thing, um, that I. I wanted to point out is if you look at her legs, she had no scarring or injuries on her front legs, yet her face has heavy scarring that would not be consistent with dog fighting. That's one thing I wanted to point out. Um, the second is, uh, we like to say that dogs that come from dog fighting raids are, are victims. They have, uh, PTSD, and so you have to treat them as such. So he's correct in that one portion where you want, don't wanna overwhelm the dog, like any dog comes out of a traumatic situation. But you can't desensitize them. What you can do is, is work on managing a dog's gaminess. Like if, if you have a dog that's reactive, and this could be if the German Shepherd, fighting dog, whatever, if they have to be managed. Um, but you can't, you can never take that, that, uh, that trait out of them. You can never take that gameness out of them.

Can it be, because, you know, he shows the, we just saw the picture. Let me back it up a bit. As far as you know, the dog just laying there, she looks a little stoned. Yeah. Laying there with, with two other dogs, which I also know they're two, uh, male dogs. Um, two Dobermans, and she's doing okay with those dogs. But then there were other dogs in the house, and I believe all of them were pities or pittie mixes, and those were the ones that she got into fights with.

Right. And so, uh, dogs are individuals, so some dogs just will not get along. And, um, a lot of, uh, breed specific like, uh, you know, Pit Bull rescue type groups, a lot of 'em won't let you adopt. If you have a female in the home, they won't, they, they prefer to have opposite sex when you have, uh, a Pit Bull in the home. And it's a good idea if you have, um, dogs that are, uh, especially game bred dogs. Again, each dog's different, but it is a good idea if you have a game-bred Pit Bull to have a male and a female versus two males or versus two females. But you know, each dog is different on how, you know, how they, how can they react.

We basically reshape her understanding of the world, and that's what we do with a lot of dogs. But she was probably our most extensive rehab case.

And that's a lot of the kind of emotional recovery, obviously, physically she had to go through a lot too.

Sure. Exactly. I mean, you can't really tell from now. I mean, you can see the scars of course, but her jaw was falling apart. They had to do reconstructive surgery to put it back together. She was emaciated. She was, you know, she was basically left for dead almost. So,

And that's kind of where your relationships come in. I know you work with Rascal Animal Hospital, obviously, and other groups that kind of help you when you have a case like this.

Correct? Yes. So we got the call from the Cleveland Animal Control. Um, they, we were the only group that they trusted to take this dog because of her dog issues, because of her fear and what she had gone through. So we picked her up, we drove her down to Rascal Animal Hospital here in Dublin. Uh, and Dr. G took great care of her physically. So, and that's our partnership with Rascal, that they heal the, the, the body and we heal the mind basically. And then we have a whole dog.

Okay. So she has since, as you said, become an ambassador. So what does that mean?

Um, well, you know, we take Belle out a lot. She goes to a lot of schools with us where we teach dog safety. We just finished up National Dog Bite Prevention Week last week. Um, children are the number one group to be bitten by dogs. And when they are bitten, they're the number one group to require hospitalization. It's just a statistic. It's a fact. And it's because children don't understand dog behavior. They don't understand what will set a dog off, and they don't know how to be safe around a dog. So we take bell out because she loves kids so much. She loves people so much, and she goes out and, and we teach children about dog behavior, how a dog thinks, why a dog's gonna wanna run up to you and smell you, first of all, you know, why that is an important thing to do and how the children can stay safe in that regard. So we can hopefully bring down some of those numbers of dog bites across the country.

And when you take her into a school, I can imagine the kid's response is just like, this is the nicest, friendliest dog. She'd never bite me. But you have to teach them that even when they seem like they are not threatening, there could be something that happens. Right?

Exactly. Sure. And, and it couldn't be their, not just their behavior. Sometimes they have a medical problem. You know, all dogs are individuals. They all are, are, are deserving of space if they need space. So, you know, that's where we teach them to ask for permission and make sure that the dog wants to be petted and then go through the proper steps to not scare the dog and set them off. And there's so many little things that go through. This process that we all think is common sense that so many children just don't know and so many parents just don't know either.

No, he is actually, uh, he is actually correct in what he was saying about, you know, asking permission. And um, and like we've said, um, each dog's an individual. So he is actually pretty on point with, with that.

Yeah, one of the, one of the things is he used Belle to go to schools and to teach kids about biting and, and that kind of stuff, but after a while he had to put a muzzle on her, which really, at this point, yeah, at this point he was not showing it. But I think that he was concerned about how she was handling like all the attention and, and that kind of stuff. Right. And normally fighting dogs tend to not really show much aggression, if any, at all against people, right?

Exactly. Yeah. They're, they're bred specifically to have that bred out of them. Um, there have been a handful in fighting history, um, Garner's Chinaman for one was notoriously a biting dog. Um, he had, he had human bite, but it's typically speaking, it's frowned upon because you we're in the pit together, we have to be able to touch, um, my dog or your dog when we pick them up. So, um, if one, if your dog bit me or bit you or whatever, you automatically forfeit that fight.

The. The unfortunate and sad thing is that Belle started a lot of fights and because again, she was Steffen's golden goose, he was not about to say that it was Belle's fault, and he was not about to get rid of her, adopt her out or euthanize her. She was the dog that, I mean, he was known for Belle the Bait Dog. He even wrote a book about her. What he did was he started blaming the other dogs for the injuries and the, and the problems that she got into. And sadly, other dogs were euthanized because of her picking fights with them. So yeah, he writes this book called Belle and the Hotdog Man, who is supposed to be, I've never read it. Um. It's supposed to be this children's book about, you know, the, his relationship with his dog, which like his relationship with most every dog was surround, was revolving around hot dogs.

So one of the techniques that Steffen uses is he tries to pretend like he's not even interested in the dog. He'll turn his attention away from the dog and then allow the dog to come out on its own. And, um, this dog does not seem to be treat motivated. So he's got hot dogs, which most dogs would, uh, would go right after. But this dog doesn't seem to be interested in a hot dog, even as it's sitting in his bed. So we'll see if Stefan's gonna be able to do this on his own.

Um, one of the really aggravating things is that going into Amazon, it shows that I left a review as a veterinarian. I left a review about how great this book is. I was barely, in speaking terms with him and him or one of his friends, but let's face it, him, uh, just pretended to be me and created a, a false review of his book. We are gonna talk more in detail about Belle's adventures, or perhaps misadventures when we have our episode dedicated to the stories of the animals that Steffen failed. So now comes December, and this is December of 2014, and he texts me, uh, to tell me that he has a problem with a foster dog named Winston. Winston is being fostered by Sarah Winfield, and according to Steffen, Winston has attacked her son a couple of times. Which realistically that is, that's not acceptable.

The first dog that he brought me was Winston. Um, when he showed up his, he said, you know, he told me Winston had been rehabilitated. The only reason he had him that he was a drug dog, or he was a, a dog at a drug house. Like they were using him for protection of a drug house, and Winston seemed very friendly. I had a, um, English bulldog, um, in the house with me. And then I had three kids and I had, you know, my house was the house where all the kids are coming in and out, that kind of stuff. Um, so Winston was great. Like he was, he got along with him, but then he started slowly really, really loving Tyler, which is my son that Steffen was the lunch buddy too. so that, that dog started really ta taking possession of Tyler. And I didn't know enough about animal behavior at the time that I knew. The things that I, that were, I was witnessing weren't okay. Um, and then it started with like, you know, I think the first time something happened, Steffen walked in. I had said I wanted to adopt him because I love the dog. Loved Tyler, the kids loved the dog. He was getting along great with bubbles. We had a cat in the house. The dog was getting along great with, and I. I had wanted to adopt him, and Steffen brought up for some paperwork for it. And when I opened the door, he went after Steffen. And Steffen like jumped out the door, shut the door, and he said, let me take him for a run for a minute. And like tried to do the exercise thing with him and Stef. And uh, the dog was fine with that. He calmed down. I crate him. We exchanged paperwork. He's like, that's kind of concerning. And then, um, I think I, the dog was in the car with me and I pulled up to pick the kids up at school and the principal was like, oh, can I pet him? And she reached in and he lunged at her. Um, then, uh, um, my brother-in-law walked in the house and Tyler was standing there, the dog lunged at, um, my brother-in-law. So there was lots of grid lunging going on. He jumped at my mom another time. Um, so I was becoming very concerned with these behaviors and I called Steffen, like, these behaviors are going on. He is like, well, let me come work with him. Well, every time he came to the house, Winston would become so enraged, like Stefan couldn't even walk in the same room with him. He tried to tear the crate apart. Um, so he was like instructing me on things to do. That went on for probably like a week or two weeks. And I'm like, you know, I really can't have this dog in my house. He's like 130 pounds. I've got kids in and outta my house. He's lunging at men that come in my house. This is a problem. And um, Steffen told me, well, I'm gonna take him down to Rascal to have him evaluated health at a health evaluation. And then, um, probably take him home with me. But I, we couldn't get Winston into Steffen's car. Stephan didn't have at the time, he didn't have one of those barriers or anything. And Winston would try to attack Steffen. So I said, I'll just drive him down there. So I drove him down here, there, walked him to the back door, and then a staff member, um, met us and I thought, you know, he's just going to like, get checked out, make sure he doesn't have something health-wise going on that's causing these behaviors. And, you know, I felt horrible that I had failed this dog and the stuff like that. So for years with, with Winston, I just felt guilty that I had done something wrong, that I could have done something more. Um, and I never even found out until after the trial I testified and I went in and pulled up all the documents and started reading it. And he had never told me that Winston's triggers were kids and other dogs. And he placed Winston in my house. That was a house where all the kids came in and out and there were other dogs.

So irresponsible 'cause it's putting your kids in danger and he knows.

And I had no clue. I had no clue. And they, I, I have, I and my kids were under 12. They weren't older or, you know, something where they could handle a dog fight or something like that.

So basically he texted me to say. You know, Winston went after, uh, the kid's uncle, and I'm really concerned about it. It's not the first time that he has demonstrated aggression and I need to bring him in to put him down. Um, so I was like, okay, you know, because again, kinda like you, I understand behavioral euthanasia, and if a dog is being a danger, then they need to be euthanized. And he was bringing him in and then he says, well, the foster is bringing him in. I need you to tell her that it's just for an exam. Why?

He had me go to the back door.

Yeah. So I said, no, no, beat me. I'm not lying to the foster. Because he was originally the way that he told me he was just gonna send you with the dog and he wasn't gonna even come in.

He's gonna make me un unknownly drive a dog to his death without

Yeah, basically. So he, yeah. So I told him that, and then he was like, okay, well I'll bring the dog in. And then it was like, well, I'll come in with her. And I said, okay, I understand, but we're still gonna let her know that the dog is being euthanized. And then I never saw you.

Yeah. He, he had me come to the back door. He is like, you're good. And he had the staff member take the dog. And I'm like, okay. And I just thought that was procedure. I didn't have enough information at the time, so I was just like, okay.

Yeah. Well, and I remember that. You know, so I told him, no, we're not saying that. He brings him in. And I said, did you tell the foster that he's being euthanized? And he said, yes. And I was like, okay. So then we bring the dog to the back and he seemed fine, but I remember that we put a muzzle on him just as a precaution. And as we were working with him, he got really aggressive. And, and at that point I was like, yeah, this is, you know, it's a dog that it's, okay one second. And it's not okay, another second. Right is really dangerous. And nobody was doing anything. I mean, we did put a muzzle on him, so maybe that was, you know, concerning for him. Yeah.

So that's why I didn't have a problem. Like Winston, Winston was set up to fail. I think he could have succeeded. Um, but he was set up to fail by Steffen, by his placement. But at that point, he had shown so much aggression that I didn't have a problem with it because I was very concerned that he would hurt somebody. I mean, he did, he was, I mean, he did give you accurately. He went after the uncle, he went after a male friend of mine that came in the house. He had went after several kids and my mother. So yeah, it had been a, but he was also set up to fail by Steffen. So, you know, a few days later I reached out to him because at the time, I'm just a foster. I'm not really involved with ACT Ohio. I reached out and said, how's he doing? Oh, he's resting at a crate at my house. And I didn't see anything on social media, didn't see anything on social media.

I thought that me saying to him, we're not lying. We need to be upfront about what's happening. And then him telling me. I talked to her, they understand, you know, they're just really sad about it. He never told me that. Okay, that's fine.

And I found that out on the back end. I mean, I, and I forced him to, and I think that's why he started to trust me because I wasn't mad when he did tell me, like I understood behavioral euthanasia. And I, and I told him, I just said like, why didn't you just be honest with me about what you were doing? Like, I don't know if he thought I would try to keep the dog. I don't know if he thought I would slam him, probably more concerned about me slamming him on social media. 'cause he was more concerned about that than anything. But there, there was no reason to lie to me. I, I never gave him a reason to lie to me.

I don't think that it was as much a matter of making you mad or anything like that. It was, you know, later on with everything that's happened, it became clear that he just didn't wanna tell all his followers that he failed the dog. Right, because he kept talking about his a hundred percent placement rate and how he can rehabilitate any dog, right? And then all of a sudden, here's this dog that he can't rehabilitate.

Most of 'em he didn't even try.

This, this with Winston is the beginning of what becomes a pattern and sadly not a pattern that was immediately obvious. The main reason for that is he is fostering and getting all of these animals that are very high risk, right? Uh, at least. According to him, these are animals that are highly aggressive, that are, you know, have bitten, have a history of attacking, biting, even mauling. So the, the chances that some of these dogs are sadly broken is pretty high from the way that he was explaining it. Uh, the reason I say that is that not all is how it seems. And again, we are going to learn more about that on the dog episode. Now it's almost the end of the year and you know, we're figuring it's gonna be pretty uneventful. He does take in an old dog, a senior dog that ends up being heartworm positive, named Shadow. So we did help with that dog, with getting him evaluated and getting treatment set up. And then he reaches out, Merry Christmas. He sends a message, Merry Christmas. To which I'm saying looking forward to an awesome 2015 and getting some shit done and done right, right? And he then proceeds to tell me that Misty, remember Misty from Jefferson County? Yeah. Misty got loose that morning. Uh, and that she got picked up by the Union County Humane Society. And according to him, you know, she gets scanned. It was, uh, linked back to him. So he got called, but they won't release her until Saturday, and then he has to pay some fines and he is all pissed off because clearly this is a personal vendetta by the director because she hates him because, uh, you know, he took that place and he changed it over and then he left.

There's no reason to be vindictive. If you moved into the county and, and you let your dog run loose all the time and it was almost getting hit by a car and causing car accidents or causing, causing people to be afraid, then, you know, at some point you would get a ticket too. I wonder if it was, I don't remember if he got a ticket for a dog at large or if it was for failure license. You know, when you're, when you're running the Humane Society and it says in the Ohio Revised Code that, that no dog will be released from the shelter without a current license. You're enforcing that by running the shelter and returning lost dogs to their owner, you're selling those dog licenses and, and collecting the penalties and all that. So you, you have to be above that.

And you can track a dog down by the license, right? Because he said that the way that Misty was linked back to him was because of her microchip, not because of the license since, yeah.

And, um, I mean, the dog license, you can look that up on your cell phone. I, I always have that information available to me in our database. So plus the tag is, is actually visual. They, they change shape and color every year. All dogs must be displaying a current dog license.

And I have that, you know, that message from him saying you, because he always plays himself as a victim. So I have that message of him being like, yeah, Misty got loose and I can't get her back because I have to pay fees and it's just this vindictive stuff.

Well, but I don't, I don't assign the fees and, and I don't get anything. There's, it's just part of my job.

Merry Christmas. This is how 2014 ends. So quite a bit happened in 2015, but one of the biggest things that we did together was the Top of Ohio Shelter. So next episode, we are going to spend going through TOPS, going through his role initially as a board member, then as executive director, and then his very dramatic exit at the end of 2015. So. Come back and listen, and as always, thank you for listening and thank you for caring.