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"Nitro's Law" Re-Introduced in Ohio Legislature

Updated: Friday, March 1 2013, 08:13 PM EST
COLUMBUS -- Animal lovers in Ohio are hoping for another chance for a dog named Nitro.

The Rottweiler died in 2008, but a proposed law that bears his name has new life.

Nitro’s Law was re-introduced this week as House Bill 90. It would give local prosecutors the option of charging the owners, custodians, or caretakers of registered kennels with either a misdemeanor or a fifth degree felony if animals are abused in their care.

“I remember sitting there with my mouth open because I could not believe that a crime of this magnitude is not considered a serious crime,” said Liz Raab, Nitro’s “mom.”

Raab sent Nitro to a Youngstown-area kennel for training in 2008 while she cared for a sick relative.

She collected his body several months later.

The kennel had been raided by the local Humane Society, at which time investigators found the bodies of more than a dozen animals. 

Nitro was half the size he was when Raab turned him over to the kennel.

State Reps. Ronald Gerberry, (D)-Austintown,  and Cheryl Grossman (R )-Grove City are behind the Nitro’s law. 

It passed the House with bi-partisan support in the last General Assembly, but stalled in the Ohio Senate. 

Gerberry said Friday he is “puzzled” by the upper chamber’s lack of interest in the bill, and he hopes that Grossman can help persuade Republicans who control the Senate to move it along.

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Reporter: Dana Jay
Web Producer: Ken Hines"Nitro's Law" Re-Introduced in Ohio Legislature