Accused thief says dognapping was misunderstanding

A St. Charles woman accused of stealing a man's dog and putting it up for sale says she's the victim of a good deed gone wrong.

Jennifer Aviles, 26, is scheduled to appear in Kane County Circuit Court next month on a misdemeanor theft charge alleging she swiped a German Shepherd name Kaiser and tried to sell him online.

"But I was just trying to do what I thought was right," she said Wednesday.

It was about 9:30 a.m. Dec. 7 when Aviles said she spotted Kaiser as she drove to work along Illinois Avenue near 13th Avenue in St. Charles. The dog, according to Aviles, looked in poor health and was in the street with no owner in sight. So she pulled over for a closer look.

"I was maybe 20 to 30 feet away, and I opened my door, which caught the dog's attention. And he kind of trotted up to me," she said. "He had no identification or collar. He was severely emaciated, to the point where you could literally count his ribs. He had either been on the streets for a while or was neglected. He looked like a stray."

Aviles said she waited for an owner to appear for 5 to 10 minutes. She said she considered going to a shelter or calling animal control, but worried the dog would be euthanized if those agencies couldn't find an owner.

Eventually, she decided to take on the task of finding the dog a good home herself, Aviles said. She went out and bought him food, a collar and a leash, then posted a for sale ad on Craigslist. Because the site wouldn't allow her to list the dog as "free to a good home," she set the price at $150.

"It's not that I wanted to sell the dog for profit. Nobody would even consider paying that much money for that dog," she said. "But (on Craigslist) you cannot put up an animal for adoption, free to a good home without a re-homing fee or an adoption fee. I wanted an amount to deter people from medical labs or dog rings that just wanted to have it. The safety of the dog was my main concern."

The next day, St. Charles police received call from Kaiser's owner, who wanted to report the animal, a "rescue dog," missing. He told police the dog, which was sick and in need of immediate medical attention, didn't return like usual after being let into the backyard. Later, he called back to tell police a friend discovered Kaiser up for sale online, St. Charles police spokesman Paul McCurtain said.

"We started checking around, and employees at a landscaping company across the street said they saw a female subject pull up, call to a dog on the side of the street," McCurtain said. "She opened the door and he jumped in."

By the time Aviles heard from police, she had already given the dog away to a Marine who was a friend of her boss's daughter and had just come home from overseas, she said. She told police she would return the dog the next day, and offered to pick up any medicine Kaiser needed until then.

"The owner refused to give the medicine to either myself or police. If you're dog is so sick, why wouldn't you want to help it?" she said. "Later, I was called and told he was pressing charges and basically I had to go turn myself in. I was floored. Shocked."

McCurtain said police had little choice but to arrest Aviles because there was evidence of a crime, and the owner wanted her charged.

"If the elements of the offense are present, and the victim is insistent on signing complaints, the victim has a right to sign complaints," he said. "If (Aviles) really wanted to do what was right, she should have contacted animal control or brought the dog to the police department or called a shelter. She shouldn't have posted that ad."

The charge against Aviles is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by fines and up to a year in jail.

The dog's owner could not be reached for comment. Under city ordinances, there would have to be evidence that the dog was off the owner's property without a leash or tags for him to be cited.

Aviles, a college student with no prior criminal history, said she does not have an attorney and is not sure how she will proceed in court. She said her arrest caused her to miss work and lose an internship needed to complete a medical assisting program.

"I'm married and have a daughter. I'm working and trying to go to school to better myself. Why would I trouble myself to steal a dog?" she said. "If I ever see a dog or a cat on the side of the street again, I'll just call animal control or 911. It's just not worth it."