ASHVILLE, Ohio — Nearly one week after a woman was attacked and killed by dogs in an Ashville neighborhood, more information is coming to light about the aggressive history of the dogs. Adam and Susan Withers, the owners of those dogs, now face charges including involuntary manslaughter following the incident.
Kenzie Jones said her mom owns a condo in that neighborhood. Jones rented it from her for several months and noticed the aggressive behavior of Withers’ dogs early on.
"It was extremely frustrating and ultimately the reason I had to move out,” Jones said.
Jones said whenever she’d walk her dog through the neighborhood, she noticed Adam Withers didn’t seem to have a handle on his dogs.
"Both dogs were just out of control pulling him, he wasn't able to control them and they got off the leash,” Jones said.
When news broke last week regarding the dog attack in her former neighborhood, Jones was stunned.
"I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that somebody had lost their life due to those dogs,” Jones said.
In the last year alone, court records show Adam Withers had four municipal filings against him relating to his dogs. One of those incidents involved Jones’ mom.
"I answered the phone and my mom was just screaming, I couldn't even understand what was going on,” Jones said.
Jones said after she moved out of the condo on Kildow Court, her mom moved back in. She also adopted a golden doodle puppy named Nemo.
Last October, Jones’ mom was taking Nemo for a walk when one of Withers’ dogs got loose.
"The dog ran right out of the garage and immediately went towards my mom. It didn't see her dog at the time, so it latched onto my mom, it pulled her down to the ground and started like ripping her arm open,” Jones said.
The dog then noticed Nemo running away and ran after him. Jones’ mom was then able to get to safety. Nemo did not survive the attack.
"She still cries about her puppy every single day, she loved Nemo. That was her emotional support animal,” Jones said.
The Pickaway County dog warden deemed the dog involved a “dangerous dog.” When Adam Withers didn’t fulfill the requirements to keep the dog by December, he was cited again. By May of this year, he still hadn’t complied.
Jones said she doesn’t understand why more wasn’t done to remove these dogs from the home.
"I was disgusted, I was just in shock, I couldn't believe more hadn't been done to get the dogs out of the home prior to this incident,” Jones said.
Though the village of Ashville has ordinances on dogs running at large and dangerous dogs, it’s up to the courts to decide to remove said dogs.
10TV reached out to the Pickaway County Prosecutor to try to get more information as to why more had not been done about the dogs and are still waiting to hear back.