“I don’t even live there. I was just wondering why I got charged with all this, too. I live with my parents — with my son,” Fields told Newlin, who explained the statue refers to the harborer, keeper or owner of the dog.
“Anyone one of them can be charged,” he said.
She replied, “I never harbored her. I just went there to let his (Durbin’s) dogs out and she just bit my son. I just threw her out in the backyard and I just called 911.
“I did what any mother would do,” Fields said.
“They’re saying I tried to harbor the dog, but I even called the police and the police wouldn’t take the dog.”
Newlin continued arraignments for both defendants. Durbin, who asked the court to appoint him a lawyer, is due back at 9 a.m. Monday. Fields, who said she would try to hire her own attorney, is due back at 9 a.m. Aug. 27.
Durbin voluntarily turned over the female dog last week to the Animal Friends Humane Society, where it was euthanized, Holmes said.
The 1-year-old boy, who suffered severe facial and head injuries in the Aug. 10 attack, has been released from Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Trenton police said the toddler had to undergo surgery.
According to court records, Holmes said Fields told police she had “thrown the dog outside” following the incident and “did not know where the dog was now.”
Neighbors after the attack reported the dog, one of three that lived at the residence, was being hidden from authorities inside the home.
Under Trenton’s dangerous and vicious dog ordinance, a pit bull mix is a “vicious dog” and requires the owners to keep the dog restrained and to have up to $100,000 in liability coverage for their pet.
Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.
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