A Sharon, Ohio woman is facing criminal charges after two pit bulls allegedly escaped from her Stambaugh Avenue home and killed two neighborhood cats, one of which was reportedly eaten. Kayla Lynn Norris, 37, was charged with neglect and failure to confine her animals. The dogs had not been located as of the latest reports.
The allegations described in court filings cited by local news reports involve two large dogs escaping from Norris's property, killing a cat on a neighbor's property and later killing and eating another cat nearby. The second incident was reportedly captured on video, according to affidavits cited by WFMJ-TV. WKRC reported that the attacks occurred in Sharon, Ohio, not Sharon, Pennsylvania, despite some syndicated coverage identifying the wrong state.
Charges Stem From Failure to Confine
According to the complaint cited in the reports, Norris was charged in Pennsylvania District Court with two counts of neglect leading to a dangerous dog attack and with failing to keep her dogs confined. The filings say Norris acknowledged that the dogs were missing and said she was searching for them; the complaint also records officers' account that they saw no evidence she was searching.
Under Pennsylvania's Dog Law, a dog can be legally designated a dangerous dog if it kills or severely injures a domestic animal, dog, or cat without provocation while off its owner's property, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Only a Magisterial District Judge can formally make that determination. If a dangerous dog's attack results from an owner's intentional, reckless, or negligent conduct, the owner commits a second-degree misdemeanor. The law provides for seizure and destruction of the dangerous dog after an attack, subject to appeal and quarantine procedures, per FindLaw. Separately, state law also requires owners to keep dogs confined to their property, secured by chain or leash, or under reasonable physical control at all times, per FindLaw's outline of Section 305 of the Dog Law.
How dangerous-dog status is determined
Pennsylvania's 2024 amendments changed the dangerous-dog determination rules so that a prior history or vicious propensity is not required for a determination based on an unprovoked attack, according to Margolis Edelstein. A single unprovoked attack may support a dangerous-dog determination under current state law.
Comparable Pennsylvania case
In a separate Harrisburg case, PennLive reported that a man was charged after police said his off-leash dog killed two cats on March 25 and March 26, 2025. Prosecutors there alleged that the man encouraged the attacks, a detail that distinguishes that case from the allegations reported in Sharon.
The dogs remained missing as of the most recent reporting, with callers last spotting them roaming in Farrell, Pennsylvania. Emergency response for loose or aggressive animals in the area is routed through Mercer County 911, with stray animals typically detained at facilities such as the Shenango Valley Animal Shelter in Hermitage, according to Shenango Township. It remains unclear whether animal control or law enforcement have since located the two dogs.
