Elgin residents may lose 9 dogs found in filthy home
Kane County prosecutors want two people to forfeit nine dogs and a cat that were seized from an Elgin home last month.
Authorities will present their case in court Tuesday against Robert A. Shilling, 38, and Cheryl D. Thacker, 66, both of the 600 block of Lavoie Avenue, Elgin.
Schilling faces 21 misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and failure to inoculate his dogs; Thacker also is charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.
They were both charged after police searched a rented home in the 600 block of Lavoie Avenue after the landlord complained on Jan. 7 that an unauthorized tenant was allowing dogs to urinate and defecate inside the home, according to court records.
An Elgin animal control officer visited the property in late January could smell the stench while standing 10 feet from the partially open doorway, records show.
The cat and dogs — five female and four male — were taken to the Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg after the arrests. Officials there said this week that the pets were still being cared for at the facility.
Two people who lived at the home also were arrested after the search.
Randy G. McDonald, 51, also was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.
Crystal M. Zwarton, 30, was charged with two counts of child neglect and her two children, both under 10, were placed in the care of their father, authorities said.
McDonald and Zwarton are due in court on Feb. 22.
All are free on bond.
After the Jan. 31 search and arrests, the home was declared uninhabitable, but the occupants were allowed to move back in this week.