North Chicago dog pound fined $200 over neglect charges

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The exterior of the North Chicago animal control facility. | Thomas Delany Jr~ Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 28, 2012 1:15AM

NORTH CHICAGO — The November incident in which dogs were discovered neglected at the city’s animal control facility cost the city a $200 penalty.

State veterinarian Dr. Mark Ernst said Friday the city paid the fine on Monday. A hearing on the matter before an administrative law judge for the state Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare has been continued.

Ernst also noted that a new complaint was lodged against the facility on Jan. 17. While he declined to cite specifics of the case, he said the complaint reflected “concerns with how animals are being held” and whether they are receiving medical care.

During a committee meeting of the City Council on Monday, Jill Janezich, a member of the North Chicago School Board, showed a picture of a Shih-Tzu she said was photographed at the pound on Jan. 12. The matted dog lay on a wet, cement floor.

Janezich said witnesses claimed it was shivering “uncontrollably” and also, that an injured pit bull witnessed in the kennel on the same day, was in need of vet care.

The city’s animal warden, Ted McClelland, countered that the Shih-Tzu was matted when it was relinquished by its former owner and that he treated a scratch on the pit bull’s face with an antibiotic ointment. He showed photos of what he claimed were scars on the pit bull’s head and neck. He said activists became enraged after he refused to let a rescue group take one of the dogs out of the pound.

Both dogs were sent to Orphans of the Storm, a Riverwoods animal shelter that, under contract with the city, accepts unclaimed and relinquished animals and also facilitates vet care.

The shelter has not returned calls seeking comment.

In the first of a flurry of emails on the subject, Janezich insisted that McClelland and the police officer he reports to should both be charged with animal cruelty and neglect. McClelland said his phone has been swamped by abusive voice mails and that his life has been threatened.

The city’s animal control license is currently valid through June.

Ernst said that even when a facility pays a fine and complies with recommendations, his office has to evaluate a situation “over a period of time.”