Man sentenced to community service for cruelty to 53 pets

David Heim may have started out as an animal lover, as his defense attorney suggested Wednesday in a Rolling Meadows courtroom. But when he abandoned his animals, he became a neglectful owner.

Cook County sheriff's police charged the former Des Plaines-area man with 53 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty last month after animal rescue workers removed dozens of living and dead cats from his mobile home on the 7500 block of Elmhurst Road.

The unsettling saga concluded Wednesday after Heim pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months of conditional discharge, which will not require him to spend time in jail.

Cook County Judge Edward Pietrucha also ordered Heim to play $360 in court costs and perform 200 hours of community service. As a condition of his guilty plea, the 56-year-old Heim may not own any pets, Pietrucha said.

That condition pleased some animal welfare advocates.

"Insuring that the defendant does not own additional pets could be an effective part of this sentence," said Cynthia Bathurst, manager of court advocacy for the Dog Advisory Work Group, an animal protection organization. "This case is an important reminder that we need to provide access to resources available in the community, such as spay/neuter services or rescue networks, or in the case of this defendant, the opportunity to pursue a finding of hoarding," Bathurst said.

Other animal lovers felt Heim's sentence didn't go far enough.

The sentence disappointed Vanessa Paz and other animal welfare volunteers who attending Heim's hearing at Rolling Meadows' Third Municipal District.

"What he got was a slap on the wrist," said Vanessa Paz, a volunteer with the animal protection organization Reach Out Rescue, who made the call that alerted sheriff's police about the neglect.

"The judge doesn't understand that a message has to be sent," said Paz who described the condition of the animals as the worst she's ever seen.

After he lost his automotive industry job several years ago, it became increasingly difficult for Heim to provide for his cats, which numbered 25 when he moved into the Oasis Mobile Home Park two years ago, Giardino said. That number had more than doubled by the time Heim abandoned his home on July 27 after he was threatened with eviction, said prosecutors.

Two days later, a neighbor alerted Paz, who called the Cook County sheriff's police. Together they removed 51 live cats, a rabbit and a snake along with more than two dozen dead cats, Paz said. The surviving animals were taken to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, where several others had to be euthanized, Paz said. About 40 are currently undergoing treatment to make them eligible for adoption, Paz said.

Heim insisted that he never meant to leave his pets and that he intended to return.