A phone call from a woman observing her neighbor
mistreating her dog on a daily basis, and a videotape
of four separate days of mistreatment, led Humane
Investigator Karen Rappaport to bring the neighbor
and the tape to the Grayslake Police Department.
Officer Kurt Newman viewed the tape and felt this
was cruel treatment of animals. An arrest was made
of Cindy Brust at 244 Harding in Grayslake, IL for
cruel treatment of animals. Her two dogs were
taken, and they have been at Save-A-Pet Animal
Shelter for the last few weeks.
Unfortunately, the Lake County State’s Attorney has
decided not to prosecute. As of tomorrow, the case
will be null and void and the Shelter will be forced to
hand the animals back over to the Brusts. The
videotape showed the following treatment toward her
five month old yellow lab puppy:
� Yanking the puppy repeatedly off his feet
by the neck into a 360 degree spin
� Stepping on the puppy’s back with her
foot
� Constant yelling/intimidating the puppy
� Gives up trying to get the puppy to sit,
pushes him, then hits him in the side with
hard extendible leash handle
� Punching other adult lab in the face and
looking around to see if anyone saw her
� Kicks puppy in the hip
� Yanks puppy off his feet while her grade
school daughter laughs
� Hits the puppy in the face with her
hand
� Drags puppy by the neck and flips him
around 180 degrees
This is just a sampling from the tape, which is taken
on the sidewalk in broad daylight. The tape
is just a sampling of what two neighbors have put in
written statements (also given as evidence) that
happens on a daily basis. The dogs were also not up
to date on their vaccinations. When Save-A-Pet
staff took them to the vet, the 11 year old lab, who
was coughing and spitting up constantly, was found
to have an enlarged heart and needed to be put on
daily medication. Also, due to some apparent
limping, it was discovered that the puppy has a
congenital problem with his leg and will most probably
need surgery in the future.
Karen is going to the State’s Attorney’s office first
thing Wednesday morning to demand the laws be
enforced by prosecuting this case.
Please help by calling the State’s
Attorney, Michael Waller at 847-377-3000 and
demand that Cindy Brust be prosecuted for cruelty to
animals. The evidence is
there, the law is there, to hold the State’s Attorney
accountable is crucial. Any questions, please contact
Karen Rappaport at 847-338-7833.
