Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Ohio Breeder Had Sex with Dog: Police

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

Ohio dog breeder Daniel Miller is facing a dozen misdemeanor charges — including animal cruelty, neglect, and bestiality — after authorities seized dozens of dogs from his Loudonville property. Bodycam footage shows investigators discovering dogs left in the sun with no water, and a deputy stating that Miller obstructed the investigation and hid dogs in the woods and weeds. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy breaks down the case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Dr. Daniel Bober https://www.instagram.com/drdanielbober/Ashland County Sheriff Kurt Schneider CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Van DinhGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

He obstructed us and hid dogs in the woods and the weeds. A dog breeder in the crosshairs of investigators. We brought some friends. That breeder is later taken to jail, accused of sick crimes involving pups. This could turn into a big standoff or whatever you guys want to do. Or we can peacefully go up to the jail. I'm going through the whole case for you. I'm Ingenet Levy, and this is Crime Fitch.

Daniel Miller is a dog breeder. be a former dog breeder. He's been in business for years, but the state of Ohio wants to revoke his license and shut down his business. The reason investigators are giving is absolutely nauseating, and it evolves at least one dog, a black poodle and sex. Yes, a black poodle and sex. Right now, Daniel Miller faces a dozen misdemeanor charges, including neglect, cruelty, and sexual conduct with an animal. He was taken into custody on September 8th and later released on a $25,000 bond. But the investigation started long before that time. On August 27th, Ashland County deputies and Department of Agriculture investigators paid Daniel Miller a visit.

We brought some friends. That's a little bit of a trip hazard. That's a little bit of a trip hazard. Is that a drain? It is a trip hazard. Yeah. Well, you know, uh, bring. I'm best arm with ODA. How are you doing? Okay. I'm going to meet you. I'm going to stay in here so nobody stops on the floor.

How are you doing this morning? I'm hot. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, it's formula. I'll let everybody introduce it. So you remember myself and Rick? Yeah. You want to?

Yeah, I'm Dennis. I'm with the animal health division. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's detective. He was here the first day and then deputy and who is working with them today. This is Caitlin, our inspector program and Dr. Zimmerman with Commissioner All right. How are you doing? Good. How are you? Yeah, I guess I'm looking.

The state investigators and deputies are there because they have information about something really disturbing involving a black poodle. You'll hear the dog discussed in this next exchange. Do you have anything that came up while we were after yesterday or something? He had mentioned to try and think when that black poodle would have left, remember? And as close as I can remember is because back, the boys were practicing shooting their guns. And I would say it was 24, like, I would say between September and. Do you think of gun season?

She's all right. Yeah. Yeah. 935. The early gun season, you think? Early gun. The investigators are there for a very specific reason. They know what they're looking for, so they start walking the property, and they find some concerning things.

Are you saying that we could, you're saying that do you have concerns of? I mean, things, I didn't see exactly where I got that from, but they're kind of baking. Would you say as a vet that that was Tazerous to their health? It could potentially, it could, that may potentially. They got in there. There's no, there's no water. It's in the time. Where are the ones in the woods at?

More to get more? Already, you can tell the investigators are seeing things that concern them. Dogs baking in the sun with no water. The investigators continue to walk the property. And at one point, they talk about dogs being outside, possibly for as long as four hours in the heat. What? If this isn't criminal. Yeah, you can look in there.

You got your pictures, right? Well, while you were in there, peeling that out, they hid dogs from us. Gotcha. So they obstructed us. Okay. Now the party started. All right. Well, all that, my paperwork's done, so I can hand it to him to get our.

are hard run. You guys can do whatever you need to do. If you're okay with that, I don't want to get in your way, though. We can always. I would hang. If you guys could hang around for a little bit. We got, I got all day. Yeah, we're going to have to figure this out.

You do whatever you got to do. There might be a search warrant. Okay. I don't know if I should just be open there. Might as well. I think, yeah, let's get the wheel. Let's see if we can get the wheel. All right.

I'm going to go off. Okay. Yeah. Dr. Summers, did you do me a favor? Read this. Make sure that you think I've accurately described what we heard. And. then whenever it comes time to serve.

Is it illegal to instruct your guys' investigations, too? To hide dogs in here? No one's ever, no prosecutor's going to take the case. We don't have criminal prosecuting authority. So, and I'm, you know. Well, I'm asking you, if it's illegal, give me the wall. Oh, I can find out. Yeah.

Let me look. You're not going to charge it. I'm going to charge it. All right. I think under. I think you're required to, because I don't know where. that way it's good morning sir

yeah he obstructed us and hid dogs in the woods and in the weeds yeah I'm gonna hook him here here in a little bit all right see ya but

guys let's walk back up I gotta we gotta start writing some charges does he can these dogs safely safely feel it 25 to 1 miles road 5 to 221 miles road as we see if the chief. Sheriff called.

I didn't give him a bit on the search warrant if that's what we're going to do. He knows he damn well knows we something else is going on here and we know something else is going on here.

Yeah. Daniel, I know something else is going on here and if you make me to find out what? You're hiding dogs, you're doing a lot

of criminal behavior. And I don't know why. I don't know why? I don't know. But I don't know that. I've been lied to a lot in my career.

And I'm not saying you lied to me more than anybody else, but I can't remember the last guy's lied as much as you. Sorry, I did. I crying. Miller was taken into custody for the first time. He's arrested on charges of obstructing official business, and he later postponed. But two weeks later, that first arrest leads to a second one. and this time there are 10 new charges on September 8th deputies returned to Miller's Loudounville property and they find him inside.

Daniel, at this time, you're going to be arrested. I'm going to read you the 10 counts. And we're going to take you to the jail, okay? No, that's not. That's what's going to happen. We need to know why. Oh, I'll gladly. Yeah, absolutely.

This time, we need to know answers. Yeah, absolutely. I have charges. I can see them. This could turn into a big standoff or whatever you're going to. want to do or we can peacefully go up to the jail I have 10 counts that I'm arresting you on okay so I will read them all to you on or about February 1 to February of 2026 through August 27 of 2026 at this address in Lobbville

Ohio within the jurisdiction of the Ashland Municipal Court Ashland County Ohio Daniel Miller did confine or who was a custodian or caretaker of a companion animal to wit one or more of 72 dogs identified as one through 72 did negligently torture torment torment or commit an act of cruelty against the companion animal or negligent no no um in violation of 959-131 you guys can film this but listen i'm going to either cuff you and put you in the car now and then read them to you or you guys going to let me read them okay um Carg and service station, right now.

And your lawyers, that's what they're for. This is just what you're being there. And then I can't get a bill to get out. I'm in there till quarter to watch. You should be able to bond out. Yeah, you should be able to bond out. All right, on February 1, 2026 through August 27th through 2026 at 32, Ashley County Road, this address in Lottville, Ohio, within the jurisdiction,

National Missional Court and in Ashland County, Daniel Millie. who was the owner, manager, or employee of a dog kennel did confine, or was the custodian caretaker of companion animal to wit one or more of 72, identified through one through 72, did negligently deprive a companion animal, a companion animal, a companion animal, a companion animal, a companion animal, come on a step out here, I'm going to put him in cuss. I know he's not guilty. I know my husband. Necessary substances are confined companion animal without supplying during the confinement. I'm going to step out here. I'm going to put you in cuss. We're not doing this. Let go. He's not going to fall down. Let go. We're going to put him in the cuffs and we're going to put him in the cruiser.

I don't. I don't have. Can he not just sit here while you do it? I'm trying, but you guys are making it to the point where I can't do this. We don't want him to fall down. I don't want him to fall down either. He just had a seat right here. Yeah.

Just have a seat right here. Just have a seat right here. Just sit down. No, I don't want to sit down on the porch. Daniel Miller was charged with six counts of cruelty, depriving an animal of food and water, possessing criminal tools, torturing, tormenting, or committing an act of cruelty, and then there's this charge that's drawing a lot of attention.

Between February 1 and August 27th, August 27th, to 26, at this address within Ashland County Municipal, or within the Jersey District of National County Municipal Court, in Ashland County, Daniel Miller did engage in sexual conduct with an animal or no only possess, sell or purchase an animal with the intent that it would be subjected to sexual conduct. which you did admit to me personally. No, he didn't. Oh, he did. There is a cruelty charge with Hiro.

It's the same as a few counts ago. It just names Hiro as the criminal charge. Can you grab shoes for him? He's going to be leaving with me today. I got to go to the court. I'll put him up front if that's okay, all right? Just want to turn and put him together like this. They can serve them.

You're saying even sexual. I know that ain't. Oh, that's too tight. I, I, this is, these are all alleged charges. There's things that Helman I have talked about,

which he knows. No. Um, he would never do that. Um, this is that's, 418, 300.

Set up. Absolutely. Are these, those copies? Uh, I will give them to a minute. 418. I'll be in service and route to comment,

please. One female 21T for a bond postee. Great. beginning mileage. Go ahead. Go ahead. Zero. Zero.

Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Were some of those just... No, I'm not. They all came from after the vet evaluations after the dogs were turned over.

Make sure you have enough on in your pockets. Do you have anything in your pockets at all? I don't. Okay. Okay. Does your family know they can bond you out? You know, I'll let you call them then. I can't call.

I have a phone. The jail will let you call him. Miller is taken to the Ashland County Jail and the next morning he faces a judge. Because my understanding, Mr. Miller that in a companion case, I guess I want to go through the history of this a little bit with you to make sure that I'm on the right page and that you understand what's going on. to that. But you were charged in this court with falsification and obstruction back on August 31st. Now, you post a bond in that case. That's case number 26 CRE 752. And it's my understanding that you're represented in the case by Attorney Patrick Brown. That's Yes, yes, thank you.

And we've said a arraignment pre-trial at your attorney's request for October 13th of 2026. Additional charges were found in this court yesterday, charging you with 10 misdemeanors pertaining to alleged acts of animal cruelty, deprivation of food and water, and essentially beastiality. Now all those charges are either second degree or first degree, this year. As far as you have been re-arrested. As the judge reads through all 10 counts,

some of them named specific dogs. A puppy called Tiana, another named Marita, Bella, Jane, Hazel, and a dog called Hero who appears in three separate counts. Investigators say those are the dogs that Daniel Miller is accused of torture tormenting, and in one case, sexually abusing. And then the bestiality charge, shocking not only

because of the allegation, but listen to how it's classified under Ohio law. All about February 1, 2026 through August 27, 2026, within the jurisdiction of the Ashton District Court in Ashland County, Ohio, Daniel A. Miller did knowingly engage in sexual conduct with an animal or knowingly possess, sell, or purchase an animal with the intent that it be subjected to sexual conduct. That would be one dollar notice higher a violation of section 959.21B of the higher wise code, a misdemeanor of the second degree. Now, the maximum penalty for that charge, which if proven true, would constitute fecesality, under current Ohio law is a second-degree list man. A maximum penalty would be 90 days in jail and $750 fine

a scored cost. Yes, a second-degree misdemeanor. In some states, bestiality is a misdemeanor. In others, it's a felony. In West Virginia, there's no law against it at all. And the judge wasn't hiding his surprise at the fact that this is a misdemeanor in Ohio. It's a difficult bond to set, Mr. Mellon. Obviously, the allegations are churning. And I'm inclined to grant the state smudersh will impose a special condition because court has an obligation to try and

prevent any more things like this from happening, which I certainly intend to try and leave. The fact remains, however, and I have to say, maybe I should keep my mouth shut, but I have to say, I'm not very good to keep my mouth shut, and I have to say, look, it's shocking to me. and this is absolutely not a shot at your or your office, Mr. Fathers.

I'm sure that you diligently investigated this case. But it's absolutely shocking to me that reality is a second degree missed to me as a lot. I had to look that up myself because I could absolutely not believe that. On the apparent, this day of all I was, as we speak, trying to fix that. The Senate has passed a bill within, in July, I think, making the reality of felony. It has not yet going to the House, past the in the

industry, and the Senate, long as we did it. But that isn't going to affect this case, because Mr. Nother has the right to be charged and prosecuted under the law as it existed at the time of his alleged offense. So, I guess, as

outrageous as I find you, this alleged conduct, these are all misderingers. And I'm not presuming you guilty, Mr. Miller. I don't want you to think that. You're presumed that as something to the court. It is just that if these allegations are true, it is shocking to me that they're not so

on this. But they're apparently not. So that restricts the bond the court could pose. So I'd like to turn to Sheriff Kurt Schneider of the Ashland County Sheriff's Office. His detectives are working on this case along with the Ohio State. Department of Agriculture. Sheriff Schneider, thanks so much for coming on. Sure. Talk to me a little bit about this investigation not being over. You were quoted as saying that recently in the local press. Yeah. Our detectives have been working closely with my deputy that's

assigned to the dog warden duties, and they came across some information through another county's investigation. They got relayed to us, and then, of course, our fellows picked it up and started rather than with it. So we've got, we've had Mr. Miller in custody now twice on two different occasions, revolving around the same case. So he's facing a multitude of charges over here in actual municipal court. But our fellows are not done yet. They're still looking at some other evidence, some other forensics,

and we'll see where that road takes us. Oh, that's interesting. Is there a reason to believe, since you're looking at other forensics, that maybe this is not an isolated incident or, three, that maybe there's, there's more to this. What was Daniel Miller potentially running a network of, it's almost like a sex business allegedly involving dogs? Yeah.

So what we know right now is that, that we know that Mr. Miller has engaged in some sexual conduct with the animals down there, particularly one at this point. We know that he's had some conversations with some other folks about the same type of conduct. But again, our guys are continually looking into all the forensics and all the digital evidence that we have and they're continuing some additional interviews. And we'll figure out exactly who else may be involved if anybody. So we'll just have to keep following where the facts take us. When you say that Daniel Miller has been involved in some sexual conduct with the animals, do you mean him personally or just him allowing? Because right now the allegation appears to be that

he allowed people to take the dog, the poodle at least, to a hotel. And then there was an allegation that there was sex in the kennel involving somebody with the dog. Right. Well, I can't get into too many specifics of that particular piece. When we talk about he's involved in sexual conduct with the animals. I'll let people kind of infer what they want off of that. But at the end of the day, you know, that's a broad range of things, right? Whether he's actually doing himself, while he's allowing it to be happening there on his property.

or whether that he's got, you know, other people doing it. We'll just kind of keep that closed our chest right now until we get the rest of the case finished up. Do you anticipate more charges? I can't really answer that. You know, I have to rely on my fellows to collect all the facts first to get it all buttoned up. I can't really say yay or nay at this point.

I know they're still looking at potential other individuals that are involved in this case, now whether criminal charges come out of that or not yet. determined. Wow. You know, this is disturbing. How common is this in your area that you have an investigation involving sex with dogs or other animals? Well, let's see. This is number 34 years for me, and I can't say that I've ever been involved in one of these before. So you hear stories from around the country, but not locally here that I'm aware of. So, yeah, pretty disturbing to say the least. Were you able to find the black poodle? All the animals that were at,

The kennel on the day that we were down there were removed from the property and they are all doing well. I am not aware of any significant problems with the animals since they've been removed. I know they received some medical treatment in various stages by our local Humane Society partners. They do an amazing job here for all the animals and of course they're all funded by private donations. So they literally are doing all this on their own. So to my knowledge, all the dogs are healthy now. They've all but received vaccinations. They've been spayed neutered appropriately.

And as my understanding, almost all of them, I think there's just a few left that have not been rehomed. People have driven here. I think as far as Virginia was the last folks that I'm aware of that came up, picked up some of the animals. So pretty amazing. Well, there are fur babies. I mean, these are just like our kids, for Christ.

out loud. So the idea that we're doing this crazy stuff, the animals, I don't understand it. It's hard to get your head wrapped around, to be honest with you. Right. That's where my head goes. My dog is like my child. Yeah. Yeah, well, thank you so much. Sheriff Schneider will keep a

close eye on this case. Thank you. I suspect there's going to be a lot of people keeping their eyes on this one. So I know there's some legislative things that are in the works right now. I think there's some suggested changes to the law, stiffening up the penalties for this type of activity. So, you know, hope our legislators are paying attention and listening to the constituents

because, you know, obviously, I think we said it before, there's just like our children, you know, who can't consent, who don't do, can't speak, can't do all the other things that a normal human being can do and to do some of the things that have been done to these animals is just unfathomable. So I'm hopeful they're paying attention. Prosecutors asked the judge to not allow Miller to have any contact with animals. and he agreed setting a $25,000 hash bond, which Miller later posted. So I'd like to bring in Dr. Daniel Bober. He's a forensic psychiatrist.

Dr. Bober, you and I have talked about these cases before. Typically, though, it involves a defendant having sex, allegedly, with an animal. In this case, this guy is almost acting like, like, you know, a pimp for dogs. sick, you know, that's the allegation being made here that he is allowing a man to come to his property and engage in sex acts with dogs that he's breeding and even took one to a hotel. So what in the world comes to mind when you hear these allegations? Well, when I think about a case like this, you have a large animal breeder who has a history of violations in the past. He's tried to prevent inspectors from looking at the property.

So this is not his first run-in with authorities. And it seems like he has almost commoditized or monetized these pets to be used, whether it's purely transactional or whether he receives some internal gratification from it is hard to say. But the problem is that when you start treating living things as a commodity, that lowers the psychological barrier and it makes it easier to abuse, exploit, and traumatize them. So clearly he doesn't see them as living things. He doesn't see them as creatures that can feel pain and have feelings.

He just uses them to his own ends. And so, again, I wonder for myself, is this purely someone who, and again, I've never obviously evaluated him, is this someone that is, you know, just antisocial and does it transactionally for money? Or is he actually receiving gratification from it psychologically in the same way that these people who take the animals are. And that's really the key question here. Is he getting some type of gratification? What's so disturbing too, this goes back to at least this set of allegations that the Ohio Department of Agriculture was looking into goes back to December of 2024. So that's

almost two years ago now. And then there was an incident, an alleged incident, I should say, earlier this year in 2026. So that's three incidents that we know of. So it kind of raises the question, did somebody, did law enforcement and the Ohio Department of Agriculture learn about this through some other investigation? That's what comes to mind for me. Did somebody call it in? Or is something more going on here? Because I guess, you know, you and I've talked about this before. sex with animals is more common than people would realize. And it's incredibly disturbing. It is.

And what's interesting about it is, is that only in slightly half of the states is it considered to be a felony. In Ohio, it's considered to be a misdemeanor. So, you know, I have two dogs. The people that I know are dog lovers. You know, for us, you know, these are family members. And so it's just as disturbing for us as it would be to, you know, if something like this was being done to a human being.

So it's just unspeakable, horrific, despicable. And for this to be allowed to go on and for him to be able to fly into the radar is obviously very disturbing. You're probably dealing with someone who has profound deficits in empathy and a complete lack of remorse. And that is very disturbing that an individual like that is operating out there. And you're right about the laws on bestiality. You know, there are many states that consider it either a second degree or class A or class B misdemeanor. Some, you know, there are others that consider it a felony. Aggravating factors get considered, which you can upgrade it from a misdemeanor to a felony, right?

West Virginia. Doesn't have a lot. I've said, right? I was reading that. It's a little disturbing. Yeah, I was stunned. You and I, we went to the same place. We both looked this up in our prep for this topic.

So that's disturbing as well because I think that this shows aberrant behavior and potentially, potentially antisocial behavior. And that's really a big red flag for our society. Right. And you're talking about someone who is going after literally the most vulnerable living things in our society that are, you know, unable to defend themselves, unable to obviously speak out. And he's exploiting them for his own personal gain and possible gratification. that really makes it very disturbing. You know, dog breeders, you know, they're, this is a industry that comes on, it comes under the microscope quite a bit. And so, you know, you hear about puppy mills.

You hear about, you know, all kinds of, um, operations that are not sound. These investigators, we have body camera footage. They go out there and they see dogs laying in the sun for hours at a time without water. Right. Yeah. That's a huge concern. That's something that these. investigators find when they go there. And then the reason they go there in the first place is because

they have this allegation that the that Daniel Miller allowed this man to take a black poodle to a hotel for sex. And then he's like and then he's accused of letting people go into the kennel to have sex with the yeah. Like he's essentially running an animal brothel basically. Yes. Yes. That's what I'm saying. He's like a it's disgusting. He's like a pig. Exactly like you said. Yes. He's a dog pimp. So it's so disturbing. So his, you know, the cops then show up in September to arrest him. You know, there he is with his family. And he's just standing there.

And his family, they're like losing their minds. They're like, no, no, no. Like, I mean, they have no clue that he is under investigation. They know he's under investigation, but they just can't even go there that this is possibly true. Right. Right. It's interesting because it brings up something that a lot of. of profilers. We'll talk about this escalation hypothesis that if you have the ability to harm

animals, do you up the ante? Do you then go to children or go to vulnerable adults like the elderly? And that this escalation from, you know, targeting an animal where maybe it's just not enough for you anymore. It doesn't give you enough gratification. And so you graduate, if you will, in quotes, to something like a human being. So I think that's interesting as well. Yeah, that is an interesting point. You know, I just, you and I think differently about animals, obviously, and many people do than the people involved in this case. Well, we are going to keep an eye on it. Dr. Bober, thank you so much for your time for talking about this very disturbing topic. The sheriff says this isn't over. So stay tuned. More to come. Thank you for having me. Now, as I mentioned, Daniel Miller is out on bond. He's due back in court in our October and all of those dogs were surrendered, as you heard earlier from the sheriff to a local humane society. We're going to keep an eye on this case and let you know what happens and whether

other charges are filed. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Janette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back for next time.