Brock Coonrod, 27, and Donald Burke, 41, have been released from the Sangamon County Jail after posting bond and have pleaded not guilty.
Both men are charged with aggravated cruelty and cruel treatment to animals. Aggravated cruelty, the more serious charge, is a Class 4 felony punishable upon conviction by probation or one to three years in prison. Their next court appearance is March 14.
Riverton police say the dogs were shot and killed the night of Dec. 13 at the mobile home the two foster brothers shared. Police were notified the following day.
Coonrod told police he didn’t want to shoot his dog, but could not find a new home for it.
He said he called police, the Animal Protective League, the “pound” and checked with a friend and family members but that no one could take his dog.
The two lived in a mobile home park in the 1000 block of East Kinzie Street in Riverton and were being evicted.
However, court records suggest the two men found out Dec. 4 — nine days before the dogs were shot — that they needed to find a new place to live.
Riverton Police Chief Dave Smith said Tuesday that the two men had other options.
“I can’t imagine someone would have done that,” Smith said about shooting a pet dog. “There are people, I imagine, who would have taken the dogs on a temporary basis until they could find a new home.”
Police reports indicate that Coonrod admitted to shooting his dog and told police he gave Burke his gun to shoot his pit bull. The dogs' bodies were found in a wooded area behind the mobile home. Coonrod had a registered Firearm Owner's Identification card.
Burke denied he shot his dog; however, messages to his ex-girlfriend obtained by police appear to implicate him, police believe.
Smith also said both men were drunk the night of the shootings. Smith actually met Burke’s dog during a prior run-in, he said, and found the pit bull to be nice, well nourished and not aggressive.
Coonrod and Burke are being represented by public defenders. Calls to their attorneys were not returned Tuesday.
Greg Largent, director of the Sangamon County Animal Control Center, said the pit bulls could have been dropped off at the facility at 2100 Shale St. in Springfield.
“We don’t pick and choose which animals we accept,” Largent said.
Largent added there are a number of options in the area available for people who can no longer can care for their pets, such as APL and the Illinois Humane Society.
Sangamon County Animal Control has also made strides, he noted, to reduce the number of pets it euthanizes through more off-site adoptions and transferring pets to different shelters.
News of Coonrod and Burke’s arrest first appeared on the blog Springfield IL Exposed.
(sj-r.com - Jan 5, 2016)
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