Man Due Back In Court For Beating Dog
ST. CHARLES, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- A suburban man is due back in court next month in an animal cruelty case.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Pat Cassidy reports, Kane County Judge James Hallock will decide whether Phillip Rinn, 41, of Elgin, must forfeit his 1-year-old Labrador retriever-German shepherd mix, Magda, and pay for the cost of caring for her.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Pat Cassidy reports.
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Hallock is charged with a felony, for allegedly hitting the dog so hard that he broke five of the dog's teeth.
Kane County deputies responded Nov. 15 to Rinn's home in the 300 block of South Kendall Street in Aurora after neighbors called 911. When deputies arrived, sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler said, they not only found a bloodied dog with missing teeth, but "Rinn was naked, standing in the doorway."
He ran up a $1,000 dental bill, and another $1,600 for the dog's care.
In 1993, Rinn pleaded guilty to chaining his dog around the neck, then dragging the dog behind his car on Peck Road in an attempt to kill it. When the dog didn't die, Rinn pulled over, ran over the dog again and left him in a ditch, where the dog eventually died of his injuries.
At his sentencing, Rinn promised never to mistreat an animal again. The judge gave him 30 days in jail, two years' probation, a $500 fine and 100 hours of community service.
But outrage over the case at the time prompted tougher laws for animal abusers, and this time, the charges against Rinn were upgrade to a Class 4 felony.
Another dog, a pit bull-greyhound mix named Eve, was given to Rinn by Aurora resident Jamie Cotner after Eve and Cotner's other dog had trouble getting along. But after Cotner's most recent arrest, Eve went missing. Rinn allegedly told others she had run away.
WBBM Newsradio 780's Pat Cassidy and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
