Pit-bull owner sentenced in attack | Toledo Ohio dog bite attorney

A Franklin County judge was unmoved yesterday by a man's tearful claim that he shouldn't be held responsible for a nearly fatal attack on a 12-year-old boy by his pit bull.
Common Pleas Judge Laurel A. Beatty sentenced Donald Moore to 13 years in prison for the attack on a Hilltop sidewalk.
A jury convicted Moore last month of felonious assault and failure to confine a vicious dog for the incident on May 9, 2010, when his pit bull broke free of its tether and clamped its jaws on the throat of Ryan Fuller.
A neighbor used a butcher knife to stab the dog when no one else could get the dog to release the boy. The dog later was euthanized.
The jury also convicted Moore of failure to confine a vicious dog for an attack by the same pit bull on a 41-year-old woman on S. Eureka Avenue on Oct. 5, 2009. However, the jury found him not guilty of felonious assault in that case.
The now-13-year-old boy, who testified during the trial and his mother were in the courtroom for the sentences. Angela Fuller spoke briefly in court, asking the judge to remember that her son, whose neck remains scarred, will be affected by the attack for the rest of his life.
Beatty sentenced Moore to eight years for the felonious assault and added five years after finding that he is a repeat violent offender. She sentenced him to 18 months on each of the confinement convictions, but ruled that those sentences would run concurrent to his other prison time.
Moore's girlfriend, Stephanie Shahan, was sentenced last month to two years in prison after pleading guilty to felonious assault, assault and failure to confine a vicious dog.
Ohio law defines pit bulls as vicious dogs and imposes strict requirements on how they must be confined by their owners and keepers.
If you or someone you know has been injured or hurt by a dog bite you need information. Contact our Ohio dog bite lawyers at 800.637.8170 to order your free copy of The Ohio Dog Bite Book.