Butler County man indicted after caged dog found dead in unoccupied apartment

An Oxford man has been indicted on felony animal abuse charges after police discovered a deceased dog that was “severely dehydrated and starved” in November.

Hangming Zhang, 22, of South College Ave., was indicted Wednesday on three counts of cruelty to companion animals, a fifth-degree felony.

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Zhang is housed in the Butler County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond. Arraignment on the indicted charges is scheduled for Jan. 23 in Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth’s courtroom.

Oxford Police on Nov. 25 dispatched an animal control officer to Fox and Hounds Apartments on Foxfire Drive to investigate a deceased dog confined in a cage.

During the investigation, Zhang, was revealed to be the caretaker of the dog and kept it in an unoccupied apartment. Police said he last cared for the dog on Oct. 13 but never returned.

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Oxford police sent the dog’s remains to the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center to determine the cause of death.

Zhang attended Miami University in Oxford from 2015 to 2018, and then re-enrolled in 2019 before leaving again on Nov. 19, according to school records.

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