Man charged with animal cruelty after authorities find dozens of carcasses on Sandwich property

SYCAMORE – A man is facing multiple criminal charges of animal neglect and cruelty after a monthslong investigation led by state authorities uncovered dozens of livestock carcasses on his Sandwich property, court records show.

Mohammed A. Raza-Ahsan, 60, of Addison owns about 10½ acres in the 17000 block of Wagner Road, under the LLC Sandwich Halal Farms Illinois, according to DeKalb County property records.

The property is at the center of an investigation dating back to Oct. 25 led by the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. Authorities with the state agency said they began investigating the property after receiving a complaint “of foul odors and neglected animals on the property,” according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Raza-Ahsan is charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruel treatment of animals and three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, according to court records filed Tuesday in DeKalb County.

Richard Johnson, an investigator with the bureau, said in a July 9 email to the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office that the initial complaint was “regarding dead animal carcasses and animal neglect of approximately 100 goats and sheep along with various poultry and two holstein cattle.” Johnson’s email was obtained by Shaw Local News Network through a public records request. He emailed to ask the state’s attorney’s office to authorize criminal charges against Raza-Ahsan, alleging that Raza-Ahsan violated the state’s Animal Mortality and Humane Care for Animals acts.

“During [our] investigation, it was observed that Mr. Mohammed had between 50 [and] 60 dead animal carcasses on his property in various stages of decomposition. Some looked years old and some days. Along with the carcasses, Mr. Mohammed had several injured sheep and goats that he was cited for so that those animals received veterinary care to address injuries,” Johnson wrote.

Officials from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and the DeKalb County Health Department also were present at the October site visit, Johnson wrote.

The initial visit spread out over two weeks in the fall, during which authorities said they educated Raza-Ahsan on state law regarding proper animal care and how to humanely dispose of carcasses, according to Johnson’s email. During those two weeks, authorities helped provide the animals with veterinary care or euthanized them according to the law, Johnson wrote.

“Once he was complying and educated to responsibilities as an animal owner, the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare closed our docket,” Johnson wrote of the October visit.

The neglect allegedly continued, however.

Authorities were called out again to the Sandwich property June 28 but were not successful in reaching Raza-Ahsan despite multiple attempts, Johnson wrote to the state’s attorney’s office.

He and a DeKalb County sheriff’s deputy returned to view the property July 9 from a neighboring area. Authorities allegedly saw two holstein cattle “tethered to trees and the straps that appeared to be tied around the cattle’s necks,” Johnson wrote.

Photos provided to Shaw Local from the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office through a public records request appear to show two cows tied to a tree. Other photos appear to show animal parts on the ground. What appears to be an animal skull can be seen in another photo.

The ropes were so tight that the cattle couldn’t move properly, Johnson alleged in his email. He said he also saw multiple carcasses and carcass parts on the property.

With the sheriff’s deputy, Johnson said they entered a fenced-in area of the property and saw the animals were tethered near sharp metal objects without access to clean water. They also alleged that they saw multiple injured sheep and goats having difficulty walking.

Raza-Ahsan was arrested by DeKalb County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday, processed and released with orders to appear in court, according to the sheriff’s office.

He is expected to appear in front of a judge at 9 a.m. Aug. 12 for a status hearing, records show.