Animal Cruelty Charges Filed In 'Barbaric' Poodle-Throwing

OAK LAWN, IL — Charges have been filed against an Oak Lawn man who was arrested Monday morning after he allegedly threw two toy poodles off the fifth floor of a parking garage at Advocate Christ Medical Center over the weekend. The man faces two Class 4 felony counts of animal cruelty. He is due in bond court in the Bridgeview Courthouse on Tuesday.

The man was identified by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office as 22-year-old Edward Hanania. The dogs were found Saturday afternoon between parking towers B and C on Kostner Avenue near 93rd Street, across from Advocate Children’s Hospital. One of the dogs died, but the other dog — Angel — survived and was treated for broken legs at the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge.

“We are all baffled by this one,” Div. Chief Randy Palmer said. “We have trained investigators who’ve worked homicides and this one baffles my mind why anyone would take animals that aren’t theirs and do something like this. It just boggles my mind.”

Press conference with Randy Palmer, Division Chief of Investigations, Oak Lawn Police Department

Palmer said at around 12:08 p.m. Saturday, the dogs were found lying between the two parking towers by a passerby, who contacted police. Given the location where the dogs were found and the extent of their injuries, officers figured out that the dogs were possibly thrown from the fifth floor of Parking Garage C.

Police have also spoken to the owner, who has since picked up Angel and claimed the remains of Angel’s father, a 6-year-old toy poodle named Guero, from Animal Welfare League. He said the owner is devastated and trying to process what has happened to his dogs.

“I have a dog and I can’t fathom why somebody does something like this,” Palmer said. “I have no answers. This is not something a normal person would do. Our hearts go out to the owner.”

The dogs had somehow gotten out of their yard Saturday in Chicago, Palmer said. The dogs were found by a good Samaritan near 55th Street and Troy Avenue, who posted pictures of Angel and Guero on the Lost & Found Cats & Dogs on the South/Southwest Side of Chicago Facebook page. According to a comment thread on the group’s Facebook page, a man claimed that the bonded pair of poodles were his dogs. The finder turned the dogs over to the man. Several hours later, the dogs’ real owner stepped forward to say they were his dogs and had proof of ownership, including vet records, pictures and video.

Members of the group allege that the man who took the poodles may have been seen smashing a black schnauzer puppy against the window inside his car at the Oak Lawn Target parking garage over the weekend.

Police are investigating the black puppy as well. The man charged is from Oak Lawn and has past criminal offenses, Palmer said.

“We’re looking at this individual’s full background,” Palmer added. “We’re going to charge him to the fullest extent of the law that we can, given the heinousness of this crime.”

What to do if you find a lost pet?

By law, people who find lost pets are required to turn them over to local police or the designated shelter that accepts stray animals on behalf of a municipality. For whatever reason, people who find lost pets often try to locate the rightful owner themselves via social media groups, such as Lost Dogs Illinois or Lost & Found Cats & Dogs on the South/Southwest Side. Some finders of lost animals are afraid that the dogs and cats they do turn over to police will be euthanized if the pets’ owners cannot be found.

Here is what to ask for if someone comes forward claiming they are the owner of the lost pet:

• Pictures and videos of the pet.
• Paperwork for the municipal pet license.
• Vet records, such as receipts for vaccinations, medical treatment, etc.
• Microchip records (take the lost animal to your vet or a local vet, a shelter or other facility and have them scan the pet for a microchip).
• Adoption or breeder records, any paperwork that establishes that the person as the lost pet’s owner.
• Always microchip your pet. Microchipping is available at local pet stores on designated days and through the county of residency.

This story has been updated.

Photo credit: Oak Lawn Police Department