SPRINGFIELD, IL — In what one animal rights advocate called “the worst case” she has ever seen, a Springfield man pleaded guilty in Sangamon County court July 15 to a single count of aggravated cruel treatment of animals.
Salenzio Q. Anderson, 35, also pleaded guilty to a single count of an owner’s failure of duty.
Anderson was sentenced by Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Robin Schmidt to three years in prison, which he will serve at 50%.
Anderson, whose trial was set to start Aug. 24, received 127 days of credit for time served. He will also serve six months of mandatory supervised release following his sentence.
Anderson was facing one to six years in prison.
Charlene Walsh, who is on the board of directors for W.I.L.D. Canine Rescue and specializes in recovering lost and abandoned dogs, said July 16 she stood by her description of Anderson’s case because of “the numbers and the conditions they were kept in.”
“The man takes no responsibility for his actions, other than the fact that he pleaded guilty,” said Walsh, who followed the case.
As reported earlier by The State Journal-Register, a dozen dogs recovered from Anderson’s home suffered from injuries, including one that had a large chunk of its jaw missing.
Other dogs were emaciated and had scarring abscesses, eye and leg injuries and chemical burns. Many of them had dried blood on them.
Three dog corpses, including a puppy, were found in a metal burning barrel on Anderson’s property. It was undetermined whether the dogs were still alive when they were burned.
Anderson was in possession of a breeding dog and a “bait dog,” which is used to train other fighting dogs.
A “break stick” with blood on it also was found on Anderson’s property. A “break stick” is inserted into a dog’s mouth to separate it from other dogs.
Jill Egizii, the founder and president of W.I.L.D. Canine Rescue, told The State Journal-Register it was “unfortunate” that the Sangamon County State’s Attorney dropped dog fighting charges against Anderson and that Sangamon County Animal Control wasn’t notified about that prior to the hearing.
The dogs recovered from Anderson’s home, Egizzi said, are now property of Animal Control.
Egizii said there is an Illinois statute that says Anderson cannot own a dog for 10 years because of the conviction, though that was not articulated in court Wednesday.
After release from prison, Walsh said the household where Anderson lives will have to disclose whether they have pets.
The case, Walsh said, may serve as a cautionary tale.
“I’m hoping people see it and they realize there are going to be people watching,” she said. “So maybe this will change the way they treat their animals and maybe they will realize their neighbors are going to turn them in if they aren’t nice to their animals.”
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield man behind ‘worst case’ of animal abuse pleads guilty
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
