Animal abuse trial scheduled to start next week
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the case of a Deer Park woman accused of allowing animals to die of starvation at a kennel she owned.
Diane Eldrup, 48, is charged with animal torture and aggravated cruelty to animals for activities at the Muddy Paws Dog Rescue uncovered in December.
Officials said 30 dogs, three birds and an opossum died of apparent starvation, and that the kennel and attached living quarters were so contaminated with animal waste they had to be destroyed.
Assistant state's attorneys Michael Mermel and Raquel Robles-Eschbach said they believe the evidence will show Eldrup intentionally allowed the dogs to starve to death.
Defense attorney John Curnyn of Evanston said he does not believe the prosecution can prove any intentional acts on Eldrup's part led to the deaths of the animals.
Curnyn said necropsies were performed on only six of the animals, and the state cannot establish any official cause of deaths of the others.
In addition, Curnyn said, the necropsies were performed by a veterinarian without special training in pathology and his conclusions about the cause of death are suspect.
Eldrup was arrested Dec. 17 when her estranged husband went to the property in the 2000 block of Rand Road to collect some belongings and discovered some of the animal corpses.
Police said 5 tons to 10 tons of animal waste was present on the property. All structures at the site were destroyed in May because they had been rendered permanently uninhabitable.
In June, the attorneys in the case met privately with Circuit Judge James Booras to discuss a negotiated settlement of the case.
After the meeting, Booras later informed Eldrup that prosecutors were offering her the opportunity to plead guilty to the less serious charge of aggravated cruelty to animals and would drop the animal torture charges in return.
The prosecutors did not include a recommendation for sentencing in their offer, insisting instead that Eldrup's punishment would have to be determined by Booras at a separate hearing.
Had she accepted the offer, Eldrup would have faced a maximum of three years in prison instead of a potential five years.
Both crimes are also punishable by local jail time and probation, and Booras said at the time that “All sentencing options would be on the table.”
Eldrup was freed shortly after her arrest when she posted $25,000 in cash for bond.