Woman charged after 2 of 11 dogs left in hot van die

Bail was set at $60,000 Monday for a Round Lake woman accused of leaving 11 neglected, caged dogs in a hot van at a Palatine auto supply store Sunday. Two of the dogs, an English bulldog and a French bulldog, have since died of heat stroke.

The dogs' owner, Griselda Martinez, of the 100 block of NASA Circle in Round Lake, was arrested and charged with two counts of felony aggravated cruelty to animals and 11 counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals.

She appeared Monday in court, where prosecutors detailed how Martinez, her boyfriend and her 11 dogs were on their way from Round Lake to Streator Sunday in her boyfriend's Chevrolet van when they stopped at Advance Auto Parts, 1770 N. Rand Road in Palatine, to get coolant for the vehicle's broken air conditioner.

As he worked under the hood, they opened the back doors of the van. Palatine police, on routine patrol, drove past and saw the 11 dog crates stacked inside. As officers walked up, Martinez attempted to close the van doors, according to reports.

Palatine police said the dogs were covered in feces and some were foaming at the mouth and whimpering. One of the dogs was not moving, the vehicle smelled of urine, and the van's windows were closed despite it being 90 degrees outside. There were dog bowls but no water in them, according to reports.

Additional police officers arrived to help carry the dogs inside the air-conditioned store and give them water until an animal hospital could pick them up.

Police arrested Martinez, who identified herself as the owner of the dogs. Her boyfriend was not charged.

A veterinarian from Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg examined the dogs and found they were all dehydrated and all had ear and skin infections, police said. The veterinarian estimated the dogs were subjected to extreme heat for 30 to 40 minutes, prosecutors said.

While a dog's normal body temperature is between 100 and 102 degrees, the deceased French bulldog had a body temperature of 108 degrees, and the deceased English bulldog had a body temperature of 107.2 degrees, prosecutors said.

Police were unsure Monday of where the surviving dogs were being kept and did not know if a court order had been issued for Martinez to forfeit the animals. The staff at Golf Rose Animal Hospital declined to comment.

Martinez's next court date is Sept. 8 at the Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows.

If found guilty, Martinez, a 41-year-old single mother of five, will face one to three years in prison.