Trial begins for Round Lake woman charged with animal cruelty
Confinement in a windowless vehicle without air conditioning or water on a 90-degree day led to the deaths of two dogs last summer, a Cook County prosecutor said as a Round Lake woman's trial on aggravated animal cruelty charges began in Rolling Meadows.
Griselda Martinez, 42, is responsible for the asphyxiation of two bulldogs and for the heat exhaustion nine other dogs suffered on an "excruciatingly hot day" last August, Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber said in his opening statement.
Were it not for the actions of a Palatine police officer who noticed the whimpering animals confined in small crates one on top of the other in a van parked outside a Palatine auto parts store, more of the dogs might have succumbed to heat exhaustion, Gerber said. The officer worked with fellow officers and witnesses to remove and cool the dogs. "This is a sad case," acknowledged defense attorney Lawrence Wade, who denied his client had any "specific intent" to harm the animals. According to him, Martinez was driving from Round Lake to downstate Streator with her boyfriend on Aug. 15, 2015, when the van's air conditioning failed. The couple stopped at the Palatine auto parts store to buy coolant, which is where Palatine officer Arturo Delgadillo encountered them and the dogs while on a routine patrol.
Delgadillo testified the back door of the van was open and he observed crates containing dogs lying in feces and urine, whimpering and foaming at the mouth. Delgadillo said when he told Martinez the dogs were in distress, she tried to close the door of the van. Delgadillo then began pulling the crates from the van with help from witnesses and store employees who brought the animals into the store and attempted to cool them down with water.
"She was not happy I was pulling the dogs out," said Delgadillo, who testified Martinez expressed no concern over the dogs.
Other Palatine officers arrived and transported an English bulldog and a French bulldog to the Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg, where Dr. Christina McCratic testified they were dead on arrival. Their body temperatures were 108 and 107.6 degrees, said McCratic, five to six degrees above the normal bulldog temperature.
All 11 animals had skin and ear infections and most had overgrown nails, McCratic said. A 6-week-old bulldog puppy had a birth-related hernia that required surgery and a Pomeranian had knee problems that also required surgery, McCratic said.
McCratic said her examination suggested "none of these dogs had any veterinary care prior to this."
Testimony continues Tuesday in Rolling Meadows.