Surveillance video showing a woman hitting and kicking a dog has prompted an animal cruelty investigation and a public call for help from Animal Care Services.
The incident happened in a driveway on Cloud Trails on the Northwest Side, where video captured a woman in a motor-assisted wheelchair approaching a dog that was between two vehicles. In the footage, the woman can be heard berating and swearing at the dog.
The video shows her grabbing the dog, repeatedly hitting it and then kicking it as the dog cowers.
Neighbors said they were stunned by what happened and say they had never seen the woman before.
“No, the dog doesn’t deserve that. You notice the dog has his tail in between his legs. That’s one thing you don’t want to see,” said Fred Pena, a neighbor.
“Abuselike that, I think I would’ve reported it too,” Pena said.
Animal Care Services said it now has the video and investigators are working the case, but the agency is trying to identify the woman and locate the dog.
“We have the video in our possession. You don’t need to keep sending it to us. We’ve got it. Our investigators are on it, but we’re stuck. We’re stuck with who is this in the video? Where is this pet? And is it okay?” said Lisa Norwood with Animal Care Services.
Norwood said time is critical in alleged animal cruelty cases and that the agency did not receive a report until “just a day ago.”
“There’s the possibility that there’s an animal that is at stake, an animal’s safety that is at stake. In this particular case, we never received a report until just a day ago,” Norwood said.
She urged the community to report suspected cruelty immediately and to help investigators with details that could lead to identifying the person in the video.
“We need that community support not just in reporting an incident immediately when it occurs, but also in checking out those fine details,” Norwood said.
Animal Care Services is asking anyone with information about the woman or the dog to come forward.