On Feb. 5, Butler County dog wardens responded to 3298 Reflection Pointe in Hamilton for a report of a deceased canine. The dog was discovered when a resident was taking out trash, according to Deputy Dog Warden Supervisor Kurt Merbs. The dog had a collar and a tag with a phone number that led authorities to the owner, Katie Schmuck, he said.
Schmuck, 21, admitted leaving the dog in the care of her friend, Jacob Goodwin, 21, of Hamilton, while she was gone for a week. Goodwin told the deputy dog warden that he checked on the dog approximately three times but never let it out of the cage. The third visit to the Schmuck home is when Goodwin said he found the dog dead, according to Merbs.
Both parties stated the dog didn’t eat for about three weeks.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said Goodwin disposed of the dog “like common trash.”
“The saying, ‘I wouldn’t treat a dog like that’ has a new meaning after what I’ve seen today,” Jones said. “It is disturbing what this poor animal endured. It basically starved to death in a small cage lying in its own excrement. I honestly think it’s in a better place now. I will never understand this type of cruelty.”
The Journal-News has chosen not to publish photographs of the dead dog.
Merbs called it “a senseless death” because the dog could have been donated to an animal shelter.
“This is heart-breaking,” Merbs said. “Appalling.”
It was “one of the more disturbing cases” he said he has seen in his nine years.
Schmuck and Goodwin will each have a preliminary hearing at 8 a.m. Feb. 24 in Hamilton Municipal Court.
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