Activists Demand Resignation of Animal Welfare League Director

CHICAGO RIDGE, IL — Former volunteers, employees and local residents were back demonstrating in front of Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, which is under a voluntary quarantine for what the shelter says is an outbreak of dog flu. About 100 protesters turned out Saturday morning calling for AWL director and board president Linda Estrada’s resignation and a total overhaul of the shelter’s board of directors. The shelter had found itself in the midst of a public relations nightmare after photos and videos leaked out to the news media last week showing dogs caged in horrifying conditions.

The shelter has put a temporary hold on dog and cat adoptions and rescues, for what Estrada says is an outbreak of dog flu. An announcement on AWL’s Facebook page tried to dispel social media rumors of mass euthanasia said to have taken place since shelter’s voluntary quarantine, “are incorrect and exaggerated stories from unreliable sources.” The shelter also stated that it planned to “spoil the heck out of dogs” ready for adoption until the shelter reopens.

Naperville resident Shannon Gaglione, a volunteer for a dog rescue transport team, said she volunteered at Animal Welfare League from March to October 2017, when she was banned from the premises for violating the shelter’s 4-page non-disclosure statement, a copy of which has been provided to Patch.

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Gaglione claims she was kicked out as a volunteer after complaining on her personal Facebook page about a bulldog being euthanized when she was on her way to pick the dog up for a rescue transport. Gaglione commented that instead of leaving on a rescue transport the dog, Austin, would be leaving the shelter in a black garbage bag. AWL’s non-disclosure statement prohibits volunteers and employees from criticizing the shelter on social media. AWL also asserts that it regularly patrols volunteers’ and employees’ respective social media accounts negative comments.

“I started speaking up about what goes on in the back and I haven’t stopped,” Gaglione told Patch. “There are animals sitting in feces and urine and denied licensed vet care, who are given heavy antibiotics that are killing their immune systems. For [Estrada] to say it’s flu-like, it’s beyond flu-like.”

The peaceful demonstration had an almost picnic-like atmosphere with Pete’s Fresh Market of Bridgeview sending over plates of sandwiches and oranges. A Chicago Ridge pizzeria sent complimentary pizzas to demonstrators gathered for a candlelight vigil in front of the shelter last week. Cars and trucks roared past the shelter at 10305 Southwest Highway, many blasting their horns in support of the demonstrators. A rumor spread through the crowd that Estrada had resigned as director, which shelter spokesman Nicole McNair later said the rumor wasn’t true.

A video circulating neighborhood Facebook groups also featured Estrada showing clean cages, isolation room, kitchen, nursery, dog and cat adoption areas, and a garage where critics allege pigeons are kept that are allowed to fly freely around crated dogs. Former volunteers and employees claim Estrada cleaned up the shelter before allowing news media in last week.

Lauren Belak and her family adopted a dog at Animal Welfare League this month. Belak said the dog, Balor, still had sutures from a neutering surgery that had been performed 41 days before. When Belak, her boyfriend and 7-year-old daughter went to pick Balor up from the shelter, they had to point out to staff a lump in the dog’s groin area, which was later diagnosed as a hernia. Belak has since started a Facebook page, Fight Against AWL, where many have weighed in with their own allegations of lost pets disappearing inside the building, filthy conditions and botched neutering and spaying surgeries.

AWL board member Emily Raimondo also went out to speak to the protesters gathered on the sidewalk. Raimondo said allegations were not true and that the graphic photos released this week were of animals who arrived at AWL in poor condition. Raimondo stood on the driveway where cars were pulling in to visit AWL’s veterinary clinic, which remains open. Raimondo refused to back off the driveway, walking away from the demonstrators.