Husky News

After finding 14 emaciated and freezing dogs in a Manhattan barn Friday, authorities are scouring Will County for other locations they believe the pets’ apparently negligent caretaker may have stashed animals.

The dogs, found severely underweight Friday in an unheated, open barn, are recovering at animal shelters throughout the region, including at Peoples Animal Welfare Society in Tinley Park. Humane investigator Ruby Wilson described the dogs’ owner, Elizabeth Brown, of Joliet, as a mentally disturbed woman with a history of hoarding animals – including a donkey.

Wilson is working with authorities to seek other locations in Will County where Brown might be keeping pets.

Will County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for Brown, spokesman Pat Barry said.

Wilson said Brown will be charged. A spokesman from the Will County State’s Attorney’s office was unavailable Monday to comment.

Along with the 14 dogs found in the barn, investigators found four neglected dogs at Brown’s home. With proper medical attention, all should live, Wilson said.

Also caring for the dogs are Tails of Hope in Gurnee and the Humane Society of Plainfield.

On Monday, seven of the dogs were recuperating at PAWS of Tinley Park, where they were sleeping to recover from the exhaustion of keeping warm through the recent cold snap. One dog lost part of an ear to frostbite. Another had a baseball-sized tumor on his neck and glaucoma in one eye.

The dogs have not yet been bathed. They smell from the feces stuck on their unwashed fur.

Several dogs’ teeth are ground down, presumably from trying to escape their metal pens. Wilson does not believe the dogs were used for fighting.

Malachi, a 5-year-old Malamute, weighed 70 pounds when he arrived at the Tinley Park animal shelter. “He should weigh 90 or 100 pounds,” PAWS medical coordinator Marilyn Bill said.

This isn’t the first time Brown allegedly has mistreated pets. She was charged last year with animal neglect after Iriquois County authorities rescued nine dogs and a donkey.

Just as she rented the barn in Manhattan, Brown may have rented other properties to keep pets, Wilson said.

The process for caring for the dogs and finding homes for them is a long one: The dogs must be brought up to weight, receive appropriate vaccinations and surgeries and Brown, their current caretaker, must relinquish her ownership – either voluntarily or through a court order.

Because Malachi and several other dogs were found spayed and neutered, she thinks Brown may have collected dogs from “free-to-good-homes” advertisements.

“She thinks she’s doing something good, somehow,” Bill said. “It’s a very sad situation.”

Source: southtownstar.com