14 animals found living in feces in barn
Manhattan, IL (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jan 18, 2008
County: Will
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Elizabeth Brown
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
After finding 14 emaciated and freezing dogs in a Manhattan barn Friday, authorities are scouring Will County for other locations they believe the pets' apparently negligent caretaker may have stashed animals.
The dogs, found severely underweight Friday in an unheated, open barn, are recovering at animal shelters throughout the region, including at Peoples Animal Welfare Society in Tinley Park. Humane investigator Ruby Wilson described the dogs' owner, Elizabeth Brown, of Joliet, as a mentally disturbed woman with a history of hoarding animals - including a donkey.
Wilson is working with authorities to seek other locations in Will County where Brown might be keeping pets.
Will County Sheriff's deputies are looking for Brown, spokesman Pat Barry said.
Wilson said Brown will be charged. A spokesman from the Will County State's Attorney's office was unavailable Monday to comment.
Along with the 14 dogs found in the barn, investigators found four neglected dogs at Brown's home. With proper medical attention, all should live, Wilson said.
Also caring for the dogs are Tails of Hope in Gurnee and the Humane Society of Plainfield.
On Monday, seven of the dogs were recuperating at PAWS of Tinley Park, where they were sleeping to recover from the exhaustion of keeping warm through the recent cold snap. One dog lost part of an ear to frostbite. Another had a baseball-sized tumor on his neck and glaucoma in one eye.
The dogs have not yet been bathed. They smell from the feces stuck on their unwashed fur.
Several dogs' teeth are ground down, presumably from trying to escape their metal pens. Wilson does not believe the dogs were used for fighting.
Malachi, a 5-year-old Malamute, weighed 70 pounds when he arrived at the Tinley Park animal shelter. "He should weigh 90 or 100 pounds," PAWS medical coordinator Marilyn Bill said.
This isn't the first time Brown allegedly has mistreated pets. She was charged last year with animal neglect after Iriquois County authorities rescued nine dogs and a donkey.
Just as she rented the barn in Manhattan, Brown may have rented other properties to keep pets, Wilson said.
The process for caring for the dogs and finding homes for them is a long one: The dogs must be brought up to weight, receive appropriate vaccinations and surgeries and Brown, their current caretaker, must relinquish her ownership - either voluntarily or through a court order.
Because Malachi and several other dogs were found spayed and neutered, she thinks Brown may have collected dogs from "free-to-good-homes" advertisements.
"She thinks she's doing something good, somehow," Bill said. "It's a very sad situation."
Anyone with information about animal abuse can contact PAWS of Tinley Park, (815) 464-7298.
Case UpdatesA 65-year-old woman has been sent to prison for 18 months for probation violations after pleading guilty to abusing more than a dozen dogs and cats.
Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt originally sentenced Elizabeth Brown to probation, but sent he to prison Jan. 6, 2010.
Brown, whose address is sometimes listed in court records as Joliet Township, Paxton and Ashkum, was arrested Jan. 25, 2008, by Will County police and charged with felony cruelty to animals.
Just days before her arrest and on one of the coldest days of that year, humane society investigators and Will County police seized 18 starving dogs �" pets owned by Brown �" from two locations. Most were in an unheated barn in Manhattan Township, and the rest were being kept in the yard of an empty house owned by Brown on Loganberry Lane in Joliet Township.
When the authorities arrived that day, the animals were starving, thirsty and dirty. One dog had lost part of an ear to frostbite, and another had a baseball-sized tumor and glaucoma. Authorities later removed 10 cats from inside the same unoccupied Joliet Township home. At the time, the house was not heated.
Brown has a history of hoarding animals and has been charged and convicted of similar crimes in other Illinois counties.
On Sept. 25, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to the Will County charges. Schoenstedt decided she deserved probation because the dogs and cats were saved and they were adopted.
The sentence had several conditions. Schoenstedt forbid Brown from owning pets of any kind, and he told her to visit her probation officer by a particular date. At the time, the judge warned Brown that if she didn't comply that he would reconsider his decision.
Not long after the September hearing, Will County Assistant State's Attorney Nicole Moore learned that Brown actually owned two cats at the time of the sentencing hearing but didn't tell the judge. Brown, who had a history of skipping scheduled court appearances in the case, also did not visit her probation officer by the judge's deadline.
When Moore gave the facts to the judge, he signed a warrant for Brown's arrest. She also had been late to see her probation officer. Moore alerted the judge, and he signed a warrant for Brown's arrest. | Source: Southtown Star News - January 23, 2010
Update posted on Jan 23, 2010 - 3:07PM |
Although a Will County judge recently gave a Paxton woman probation in an animal abuse case, he's changed his mind.
Elizabeth Brown, 64, did not obey Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt's orders. Now she could be sentenced early next year to one to three years in prison.
Brown, whose address is alternately listed in court records as Joliet Township, Paxton and Ashkum, was arrested Jan. 25, 2008, by Will County police and charged with cruelty to animals, a felony.
Police seize animals
A few days before her arrest and on one of the coldest days of that year, humane society investigators and Will County police seized 18 starving dogs -- animals that belonged to Brown -- from two locations. Most were in an unheated barn in Manhattan Township, and the others were in the yard of an empty house Brown owned on Loganberry Lane in Joliet Township.
The animals were in pitiful shape, starving, thirsty and dirty. One had lost part of an ear to frostbite, and another had a baseball-sized tumor and glaucoma. Authorities later removed 10 cats from inside the same unheated and unoccupied Joliet Township home.
History of hoarding
Brown has a long history of hoarding animals and has been charged and convicted of similar crimes in other Illinois counties. She also is currently facing similar charges in Ford County.
Brown pleaded guilty Sept. 25 to the Will County charges, and Schoenstedt gave her probation.
Brown received that sentence because the dogs' and cats' lives were saved.
They were adopted by owners who now love them, the judge said.
But Schoenstedt also sounded stern during that hearing. He forbid Brown from owning pets of any kind. He also told her to visit her probation officer Sept. 28, warning Brown that if she didn't, he would send her back to jail and reconsider his decision.
Then Will County Assistant State's Attorney Nicole Moore, a lawyer who recently has been in the spotlight as part of the team prosecuting Drew Peterson and also handles many of the office's animal cruelty cases, learned something. At the time of her sentencing hearing, Brown owned two cats and didn't make the judge aware of that fact. She also had been late to see her probation officer. Moore alerted the judge, and he signed a warrant for Brown's arrest.
Back to jail
On Oct. 28, Brown appeared in court represented by Dan Kennedy. After a hearing, Schoenstedt made good on his promise. He decided that probation was not the right sentenced for Brown. He sent her back to jail and ordered her held without bond.
"Petition to revoke (her bond) is granted based on the defendant misleading the court and still having animals in her possession after she was ordered not to," the judge said, according to court documents.
Schoenstedt scheduled Brown to return to court at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 6 to be sentenced for the second time on the cruelty charge. | Source: Suburban Chicago News - Nov 6, 2009
Update posted on Nov 9, 2009 - 3:36AM |
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