CHICAGO RIDGE, Ill. – A home day care also was the site of a dogfighting ring, authorities said Wednesday, and investigators who raided the house found a blood-spattered garage floor and battered and malnourished dogs not far from where the children played.
Police said four people were arrested, and felony dogfighting charges are pending against several of them, including the day care operator's husband. Authorities did not immediately release their names.
Nine battered dogs — four of which were puppies — were rescued, police said.
"The dogs were in horrific condition," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at the Animal Welfare League in suburban Chicago Ridge, where several of the dogs were undergoing surgery and rehabilitation. "This is as bad as we've seen."
He described a gruesome scene in the day care's garage, with blood all over. Police also found items such as bite sticks and a treadmill that had been altered to be used specifically to train the dogs. Officers also recovered a 1996 edition of "Sporting Dog Journal."
Dart said approximately 10 children were found in the day care during the raid Tuesday, but they were not in the immediate vicinity of the dogs.
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Kendall Marlowe said the Maywood day care was under investigation. He said it had been licensed since March 2004 and for a capacity of seven children.
He said two complaints were received — in 2006 and 2007 — about dogs. But after DCFS officials made unannounced visits, dogs were only found in the garage and not near children.
"This day care home is now closed, and we will monitor the home going forward to ensure that it does not reopen," Marlowe said in a statement Wednesday.
Dart said the day care operator told police that she was not involved in dog fighting and that children were never near the dogs or dog fighting equipment. Day care officials could not immediately be reached.
Officers had raided the Maywood day care and two other nearby homes on Tuesday to rescue the dogs. On Wednesday, Dart cradled one cream-colored 8-week-old puppy that was missing an eye and had scratches on its face.
"The dogs had been thrown into fights," he said.
Linda Estrada, president of the Animal Welfare League, said the dogs were being evaluated.
"We're going to fatten them up, give them love and care," she said. "Then they will go up for adoption."
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