Felony animal cruelty charges filed against Glen Ellyn-area woman

Felony charges have been filed against an unincorporated Glen Ellyn woman who already is facing 132 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and violation of owners duties, authorities said.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office filed two charges of aggravated animal cruelty against April Elliott, 60, of the 2N200 block of Mildred Avenue, as the result of a continuing investigation into the level of care Elliott provided for dozens of animals at her Glen Ellyn property, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

On June 29, DuPage Animal Services filed 33 charges of cruelty to animals and 99 counts of violation of owner’s duties against Elliot. The same day, Judge Joshua Dieden issued a $50,000 with 10% to apply arrest warrant for Elliot.

Elliot turned herself in to authorities on July 7, posted the necessary 10%, or $5,000, and was released from custody. On Tuesday, Judge David Schwartz issued a $75,000 with 10% to apply arrest warrant for Elliot based upon the new felony charges. Elliot appeared in court Wednesday on the misdemeanor case and was taken into custody on the warrant, according to the release.

DuPage County Animal Services on June 27 responded to the Mildred Avenue address for a call regarding the welfare of a dog that was left outside all day on a tether and appeared to be very skinny. Upon their arrival, officers allegedly found the dog tethered outside, as well as multiple large dogs lying on the ground and in dog cages stacked on top of each other, with four to five dogs in each cage, throughout the front room of the house, according to the release.

A search warrant for the residence was obtained by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and executed later that day. When executing the search warrant, authorities allegedly found 33 live dogs, nine deceased dogs, four deceased chinchillas and one deceased rabbit. All the animals allegedly were living in inhumane conditions that caused suffering to the animals, according to the release.

According to the felony complaint filed against Elliott on Tuesday, from approximately June 15 through July 11, Elliot failed to “provide veterinary treatment to a companion animal, an adult male Husky mix dog named Flounder, when Flounder was severely malnourished, that caused Flounder to suffer serious injury and subsequent death.”

As part of the civil proceedings against Elliott, the state filed a petition seeking forfeiture of the remaining dogs. Following a proceeding on that petition Wednesday, Judge Paul Marchese ordered Elliott’s rights to the 32 dogs be forfeited. The 32 dogs now are in the care of DuPage Animal Services and will be available for adoption once they have recovered.

In addition, on June 30, the state filed a civil petition with the court for the removal and disposal of accumulated garbage, debris and hazardous materials from the Mildred Avenue property at the owner’s expense. One week later, on July 7, Judge Bonnie Wheaton approved an agreement between the parties for this clean-up effort, which has already begun. A status hearing on those efforts is scheduled for Aug. 4.

“It is alleged that Mrs. Elliotts’s disregard for the health and her failure to provide even the basic necessities such as food and water to dozens of animals in her care resulted in the death of 15 animals, including 10 dogs, and left 32 dogs severely malnourished,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “This is a heart-breaking case for all those involved. Sadly, following emergency surgery yesterday, Flounder succumbed to his condition. I would like to thank DuPage County Animal Services, particularly Operations Manager Laura Flamion for their unwavering, compassionate commitment to the health and well-being of these dogs.”