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Rescue founder charged with animal cruelty
Glendale Heights, IL (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Apr 1, 2010
County: Du Page
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Tedi Spicer
Tedi Spicer, self-proclaimed founder of Animal Rescue Outreach and The Horse Rescue Foundation, (which no longer maintains a website), is scheduled to appear on Thursday June 3, 2010 at 9:30 am in court room 4003 at the Dupage County Judicial Center in Illinois on charges of animal cruelty.
In April 2010, Glendale Heights Police were called to her home after complaints were received concerning dogs in her care. Upon arrival, police noted several violations and gave Ms. Spicer time to correct the discrepancies. Police returned a few weeks later to discover the situation worse and immediately removed twenty dogs from her care.
One of the dogs, a pitbull named Chyna, has been the center of an Internet scandal for several months now. Tedi obtained Chyna from the Greenville, SC shelter in November 2009. At that time it was noted by the shelter staff and even the rescue transporters that Chyna had severe Heartworm infestation and kennel cough. While being transported to Ms. Spicer's home, a transporter said, "It was obvious that Chyna needed medical attention right away. She was coughing the whole trip."
Tedi started advertising through the social networking groups Myspace and Facebook seeking donations to help cover Chyna's medical treatment. Tedi even created a Chipin page which deposits directly to her Paypal account. As the donations came in people who were following Chyna's plight asked Tedi for updates and soon saw signs of concern. Tedi first refused donations except cash in hand or ones paid directly to her paypal account. Tedi posted on her blog that her rescue did not accept donations made directly to her vet, the feed store where she claimed to buy feed or even those made by check or credit card. Tedi was evasive about Chyna's treatment and her stories changed daily about Chyna's condition or that of the other animals in her care. When people confronted Tedi about these inconsistencies she became defensive, then belligerent and even outright threatening As the stories became more outlandish, more people started to speak up and eventually a long history of fraudulent behavior started to emerge.
When Tedi's house was raided Chyna was inside. Emaciated and still untreated for the Heartworm she was diagnosed with over 6 months ago. Chyna and the others were immediately taken to a local veterinary hospital and have finally started to get the treatment they should of received months ago. Tedi has publicly denied all allegations and even claims no such charges are pending or that they're made up by her "haters".
A campaign is now underway on Facebook for those that have donated to her or had contact with Tedi to attend tomorrow. They are encouraged to gather at the Einstein Bagel shop near the court house on the corner of Rt. 38 (Roosevelt and County Farm) in the Target Shopping Center before 9 am. From there they will go together to the court house to stand as silent witness' for the animals pulled from her home. Also many attending are hoping to voice concerns about Tedi's rescue practices, their own allegations of theft and deception and other legal charges currently pending against her.
Besides the animal cruelty charge Tedi, who is currently on probation for unrelated charges involving computer tampering and forgery, is scheduled to appear in court later this month on violations related to her alleged rescue organization. Those include failure to obtain a business license and a license to operate an animal rescue, exceeding the number of animals per residence, no proof of rabies vaccines for the animals in her possession and more.
Other charges are expected to be filed in the upcoming weeks involving allegations that Tedi claimed all donations were tax deductible and provided receipts for those donations. People who received these receipts are now discovering that their contributions are being rejected by the IRS as Tedi's organizations are not 501c3 recognized. Others are discussing civil suits against Tedi for a variety of scams she used to obtain money from them.
Chyna is now being fostered at an undisclosed location for her own safety and is looking forward to a happy new life once the battle for her in courts in over. Tedi Spicer has refused to comment about the allegations and upcoming hearing dates. Tedi's story is far from over and we will continue to follow it as it unfolds in the legal courts as well as the court of public opinion. References |
