Woman charged with neglect, cruelty toward 33 dogs after 14 animals found dead, authorities say

A Glen Ellyn-area woman has been charged with neglecting and being cruel to 33 dogs - one of which was so emaciated and sick it likely would have died the day investigators found it, authorities say.

Charges were filed June 29 against April M. Elliott, 60, of the 2N200 block of Mildred Avenue, according to DuPage County court records.

DuPage County Animal Services officers went to the home the morning of June 27 to investigate a neighbor's complaint. They saw stacked cages, containing multiple dogs, when they looked through a glass storm door, according to an affidavit by an officer submitted to court.

Elliott did not let officers in the house, so that afternoon they obtained a search warrant and court order to remove the animals, the affidavit said.

Besides the live dogs, they found nine dead dogs, four dead chinchillas and one dead rabbit, according to court records.

Authorities expect to find more dead animals once junk and trash are removed from the house and property.

The dead animals were found in boxes and trash bags. Photos in an affidavit showed some boxes were decorative, with one bearing the phrase "Love grows here." On one box there was a handwritten note for two animals, indicating they had both been born Oct. 29, 2021, and died Dec. 10 and 11, 2021. There was a drawing of a broken heart.

Veterinarians who examined the live dogs gave many of them a rating of 0.5 on a 5-point scale for body weight, with 1 being emaciated and 5 being obese. The veterinarians had trouble administering vaccinations and injecting identification microchips because of a lack of muscle on the animals, an officer said.

One of the dogs was too weak to walk and likely would have died that night, the officer said.

"The conditions of the dogs have been improving since going into our care," Laura Flamion, operations manager for DuPage County Animal Services, said Wednesday. She said some of the dogs have been placed in foster homes through its volunteer foster program.

According to an affidavit for a search warrant, Elliott told officers she was testing and curing diseases on the animals, that she disagreed the conditions were inhumane, that they did not need veterinary care, and that she "does not believe in government or Western medicine."

The University of Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is performing necropsies on the dead dogs.

Elliott was taken into custody June 27 but then released without charges "due to medical conditions," an affidavit said.

A judge issued a $50,000 arrest warrant for Elliott June 29. Elliott faces 33 counts of animal cruelty alleging she kept the dogs - of which a few are puppies - in an inhumane environment.

The other 99 counts allege she violated an owner's duties by failing to provide sufficient, wholesome food and water to the dogs, and failing to provide veterinary care. All charges are misdemeanors.

The county has petitioned the court to let it clean up the property. There is a hearing on that case Friday morning.