Palatine woman wants dogs back

A Palatine dog owner who was fined after her two Rottweilers attacked a woman last month is wondering why she still hasn't gotten the pets back.

Police say the dogs are unsafe for the community.

But owner Linda Cassidy says she's paid the fines and that 1-year-old Georgia-Rose and Edward should come home.

Cassidy, of the 200 block of N. Schiller St., was ticketed July 30 after the Rottweilers attacked a 65-year-old woman in the neighborhood the day before.

The woman was bitten on both arms. Police say the dogs let her go when a person pulled up in a car to help.

The male dog charged at one of the officers, prompting him to fire a harmless beanbag gun at the animal.

The dog ran away, but later charged at a different officer, who fired a shot from his 9-mm handgun at the canine, which hit the ground.

In a Rolling Meadows courtroom Wednesday, a judge found Cassidy guilty of letting her dogs run loose and biting someone. She paid the $1,200 fine on the spot.

But the judge would not rule on whether the dogs should be released from a local kennel where they're being held.

A Palatine ordinance says animals should be held for seven days after a dog bite.

Police Chief John Koziol says the dogs are being held until they can be assured the community will be safe.

"We have a duty to make sure that the general public is safe," he said. "We have a duty to protect that neighborhood."

He said the animals were being held until Wednesday's court date. Now a hearing on the dogs' fate must be scheduled, he said, meaning police will not release them until then.

Koziol added the department was holding the dogs also because of a ruling from local animal control officials.

Cassidy's attorney, April Pruitt-Summers, says she will file a court document this week to get the dogs released.

"She is beside herself," she said. "These are like her children."

The dogs' owner is mortified about what happened and is not making light of the injuries, Pruitt-Summers added.

"The dogs have never been outside of her property before and she will do whatever the village wants to ensure it won't happen again," she said.

Cassidy has made a proposal to keep her gates padlocked, to have one of the dogs spayed and enrolled in an obedience class and keep the pets muzzled when not in her home.

Her attorney and Palatine attorneys have not yet reached an agreement.

She paid the fines today," said Pruitt-Summers Wednesday. "So why doesn't she have her dog back?"