News Summary

TRENTON — The man at the center of a high-profile animal cruelty case last year is due back in court May 15 for failing to secure a license for the same dog or take it for a court-ordered checkup.

A Butler County Dog Warden's report states the dog, a white shepherd named China, was found in questionable conditions — dirty water, no food and a neck stained from the ink on its collar — after a complaint April 23 .

On Monday, April 28, deputies learned that the dog's owner may have sold it for $500.

China's owner, Otis Clark Jr. of 6800 Hamilton-Eaton Road in Milford Twp., regained custody of the dog last year after pleading guilty to animal cruelty when the dog was found with its chain embedded in its neck.

Animal rights activists were outraged by the dog's return to its owner in August 2007, and this week spoke out about the animal's condition.

"We were really hoping that (Clark) and his family would have given China a good life," said Animal Friends Humane Society Director Leland Gordon. "Unfortunately, China once again ended up as a lawn ornament."

Clark did not return calls for comment.

Gordon said the neglect that left China with a chain an inch deep in its neck, forcing emergency surgery, is not unusual.

Shelter officials said they're looking for the owner of a young, male shepherd mix that was picked up on Saturday, April 26, on Allstatter Avenue in Hamilton with a chain in its neck for possible cruelty charges.

Contact this reporter at jsweigart@coxohio.com.

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