Police seize 100 animals from Tinley Park rescue

Nearly two months after police discovered 20 dead animals at the shuttered Muddy Paws Dog Rescue in Deer Park, Cook County Sheriff's police have seized more than 100 animals — many malnourished or already dead — from a Tinley Park rescue.

Dawn Hamill, 41, of Tinley Park, was charged Friday with misdemeanor neglect of owner's duties and cruel treatment, according to a news release. She ran the Dazzle Painted Pasture Animal Rescue/Sanctuary on West 175th Street.

Acting on tips that conditions at the South Suburban facility had deteriorated, police on Friday found dozens of animals living in unhealthy conditions in barns, trailers and sheds that were often unheated and without food or water.

Officers found a miniature horse and Himalayan cat dead in a barn stall, along with eight puppies exposed to Parvo, dogs with skin conditions and cats with respiratory problems and eye and ear infections. Two dogs had to be euthanized, the release stated.

In total, police removed 63 dogs, 31 cats and six rabbits from the sanctuary, and livestock including 30 horses, ponies, sheep, goats and llamas, many of which are being housed at shelters and stables across the county.

Investigators said Hamill, who opened the facility in 2006, had become increasingly unable to care for the large quantity of animals she continued to take in. Her next court date is March 11 in Markham. After her arrest, she thanked investigators for intervening, the release stated.

It was a scene reminiscent to what Kildeer police found Dec. 17 at Muddy Paws owned by 48-year-old Diane Eldrup, who's charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals and animal torture.

Several tons of dog excrement was found in plastic garbage bags on the property, where Eldrup was supposedly living with her 8-year-old son. Estranged husband Kurt Eldrup said he thought Diane was in over her head and stressed over their proceeding divorce while the couple struggled to sell the property, which was foreclosed on Dec. 7.

To inquire about the domestic animals recovered in Tinley Park, call the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge at (708) 636-8586.