Ohio Revised Code Section 959.131 defines a companion animal as “any animal that is kept inside a residential dwelling and any dog or cat regardless of where it is kept, including a pet store.”
The Ohio Supreme Court noted the statute is “no model of clarity,” but wrote “any cat or dog” means all cats and dogs unless the law was followed by a clear limiting condition.
“Furthermore, the phrase ‘any dog or cat regardless of where it is kept’ is meant to eliminate the residential requirement for dogs and cats, not create a separate requirement for dogs and cats,” the opinion read.
If the legislature intended the law to only protect dogs and cats that are “kept,” it could have stated it clearly, the Ohio Supreme Court added.
The slip opinion was related to an October 2021 case in Cleveland where a man reportedly poured bleach on an apartment building’s basement floor to make a cat leave.
The cat had red and swollen paws and appeared to be unclaimed by anyone in the building, according to Court News Ohio. The cat was taken to an animal hospital for treatment.
Alonzo Kyles was convicted of animal cruelty and sentenced to nine months in prison but appealed his sentence to the Eighth District Court of Appeals, Court News Ohio reported.
The Ohio Supreme Court decision affirmed Kyles could by convicted of the fifth-degree felony and sent the case back to the district court to consider additional challenges Kyles’ defense team raised.
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