Des Plaines man charged with animal cruelty assigned attorney
"The worst I've ever seen."
That's how animal lovers Vanessa Paz and Tracy Perrin described the condition of dozens of cats and other small animals discovered at a mobile home near Des Plaines where 56-year-old David Heim had lived. Heim was charged last month with 53 counts of animal cruelty.
The 56-year-old Heim, formerly of the 7500 block of Elmhurst Road, appeared in Rolling Meadows courtroom Friday for a hearing on the misdemeanor charges.
Authorities say Heim and a roommate abandoned the trailer in the Oasis Mobile Home Park in July after they were threatened with eviction.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Margarita Kulys Hoffman suggested Heim hire an attorney, given the nature of the charges. He was assigned a public defender, Sheree Giardino, after Hoffman determined he was eligible for an attorney paid for by the county.
Giardino said that the number of charges means Heim could face several years in prison if convicted on more than one misdemeanor count.
Perrin and Paz attended Heim's hearing along with about a dozen pet rescue volunteers from Reach Out Rescue. A representative of the Dog Advisory Work Group, an animal protection organization, also attended.
After Friday's hearing, Paz told reporters she made the call that alerted Cook County Sheriff's Police about what was happening at the mobile home.
Paz described in detail the grim sight and overpowering stench that greeted her and officer Robert Mousel when they entered Heim's residence.
"It was 110 degrees. There were fleas everywhere," she said, adding that feces covered surfaces from floor to ceiling.
"It was disgusting," she said describing the gruesome state of the animal remains, which included a snake, rabbit and turtles.
Most disturbing of all were 53 live felines, left without food and water, and the more than two dozen dead cats and kittens, said Paz, who works at the mobile home park assisting residents with spaying, neutering and veterinary care for their pets.
Some cats escaped into the mobile home park, Paz said. Others may have been dumped in area forest preserves, she said. The surviving cats were taken to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge where an additional six kittens and three cats later died.
"This didn't happen overnight," said Perrin, founder of Reach Out Rescue, a rescue and adoption organization headquartered in Oak Lawn.
A sheriff's spokeswoman said the department has no record of any phone complaints about Heim from his neighbors or from Oasis' management. The manager of the Oasis Mobile Home Park could not be reached for comment Friday.
Perrin encourages anyone interested in adopting or fostering the rescued animals to call Reach Out Rescue at (708) 670-2887.
Heim's next court date is Sept. 29.