Will County raises reward in animal abuse investigation

Well, locally, Will County prosecutors just upped that reward money for information leading to an arrest and charges in an animal cruelty case. Just absolutely horrible case. It really is. Brittany Toolis joins us live with the update. Brittany. Yeah, guys, this animal torture case really has shaken the Will County officials. A state's attorney out here saying the level of violence used against these six dogs is just disturbing. Investigators are at a standstill with nobody in custody, but the reward money to get somebody in custody has been increased by $20,000. Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow also really emphasizing that this isn't just a potential danger to animals. This is a public safety issue. Gravity that it took to torture those six poor animals and then just throw them in garbage bags along the side of the road shows a complete lack of compassion and empathy. There's a legion of studies showing that people are five times more likely to be violent against human beings if they're violent against animals. Yeah, the blurred images of these dogs is just horrific. The six dogs were found in early March by Crete Township highway workers. They were dumped in a wooded area of Crete Township at Norfolk Ave and Kings Road. The dogs showed signs of being abused, possibly tortured and being used in a dog fighting ring. Because the area is so rural so far, there are no witnesses and investigators say evidence was contaminated by all the people who handled the animals and the bags. So they can't use DNA evidence. Officials are really calling on the community for information leading to an arrest. That reward money was initially $5,000 put up by First Secure Bank. Today, Pets and Vets USA increased that reward money to up to $25,000. Now here's how you can leave a tip. To Crime Stoppers, we don't ask your name, we give you a secret identification number that you use to claim that tip if a charge is made by the state's attorney. We have three ways with Crime Stoppers that you can provide a tip, and I think they're going to show the numbers and the text number on the screen, but you can also go to crimestoppersofwillcounty.org and put the tip right into our website. And if you look at our website, it has all the information, how to give a tip, how you remain anonymous, and how this whole thing works. It's terrible. You've got some sicko out there torturing and killing animals. And like Jim said, if somebody's that depraved, how long is it going to be before they do the same thing to a human? We've got to get those sickos off the street. We rescue pit bulls. We've rescued a lot of pit bulls that have been used for fighting, bait dogs, and fighting. So I only felt it in my heart that I had to come up with a reward to be the hero for these animals and give them a voice. State's Attorney Glasgow is saying the person or people behind this may not even be here in Illinois, they could be over that Indiana border. So people in Indiana, this also applies to you. If you have any information, you're asked to call or text the numbers you see on your screen right now. And as you just heard, you can do that anonymously and any tips or information that leads to a charge, you can claim that $25,000. I'll send it back to you guys for now.