Batavia woman charged after police find dead dogs found locked in van

Update: All the dogs have been identified as Dogo Argentinos.

ILLINOIS -- A Batavia woman was charged Thursday with killing three dogs after locking the animals in a van with towels over the windows, authorities said.

There was no food or water in the van, according to a Batavia police report.

Julie A. Brungard-Giordano 47, of the 200 block of North Island Avenue, is charged with four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and four counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals, police said.
She was being held Friday in the Kane County jail on $35,000 bail, according to jail records.

The dogs were found Thursday afternoon when a Batavia police officer became suspicious of the van, which he had seen in the north parking lot of the Batavia Government Center when he arrived at work around 10 a.m. The north lot is where employees park; the government center houses the police department and city offices.

When the van was still there at 5:45 p.m., he looked in a window and saw the dogs, said Detective Kevin Bretz. Other windows were rolled up and had been covered with towels.

Officers used lockout-assistance tools to enter the van. They found six female and two male dogs, two of which were dead. At least one dog was chained and not moving, and another, lying on a dog bed on top of a cage, had trouble breathing, Bretz said. They both appeared to be pit bull breeds, he said.

Officers brought the living animals into the police garage and gave them water until Kane County Animal Control officers arrived to take them to an animal hospital in Aurora. One of the dogs died on the way to the hospital.

Police officers found Brungard-Giordano at the Riverain Point apartment building, where her parents live.

Kane County court records show that Brungard-Giordano was issued a ticket in 2007 for having more than three dogs or cats at her home when she lived in St. Charles.

Court records also indicate she was evicted last month from an address in St. Charles, and that she pleaded guilty last month to felony charges of aggravated battery of a peace officer and resisting a peace officer in charges stemming from a 2011 incident.

In 2008 and 2011, a relative took out emergency orders of protection against Brungard-Giordano, then living in St. Charles. In one of them, the parties agreed Brungard-Giordano could from time to time pick up two dogs, Bella and Grace, for the day.

She pleaded guilty in 2012 to violating the 2011 order of protection.

In 1993, Brungard-Giordano was charged with felony computer fraud, accused of stealing almost $4,200 from a woman in St. Charles. She initially was sentenced to pretrial diversion, but later was charged with violating the sentencing terms. She pleaded guilty in 1997 and was sentenced to two years probation, according to court records.

(Chicago Daily Herald - April 3, 2015)