First of all, I must commend the prosecution team of Michael Mermel, Suzanne Willett and Rachel Rubles Eschbach... they were fantastic in court today.While John Curnyn, Eldrup's defense attorney, made no friends with the spectators, judge, or jury because of his whiny outbursts, the prosecution moved smoothly and confidently through their witnesses and testimony. Most of the time Curnyn seemed unsure of what he even wanted to ask the witnesses on cross.
However, the person in all of this who will have my undying admiration and gratefulness is Kim Clark, an investigator with Mermel's office. Kim has stayed in touch with me by phone and email through the long process of me trying to find Lucha. Kim was the person who called me on a Sunday afternoon in April to tell me that Lucha's remains and microchip had been found outside the back door of Muddy Paws. She listened to me cry and comforted me as best she could. She did not want me to hear about Lucha any other way. For her unending kindness to me, I will always be thankful. Kim was also the dynamo who did so much investigation for this case, tracked down witnesses, and put so many pieces together. She's had a tough gruesome job to do with this case, but she did it thoroughly, completely, and with compassion. Kim, I admire you so much. THANK YOU.
To Cindy Williams, the Lake County Animal Control Officer who narrated the hour long video this morning...what a strong woman you are, Cindy. I couldn't watch the video, but your narration and the repeated phrases "another dead dog" and "empty food and water bowls in the kennel" were resounding in everyone's head in that courtroom.
Charlie Burleson, what a witness you were. Your strength, compassion, and intelligence was so obvious...Curnyn was outmatched when you were sworn in! Thank you for the hug. You knew and cared who Lucha was. That moves me.
One thing that really struck me today during Cindy's narration of the video was the kennel floors were a foot deep in feces and that their nails were long and curled under. The nails of starving dogs don't grow very much and how could they grow enough to curl under before they died of starvation? Another question: how did so much dog shit accumulate from dogs who were not being fed??? Obviously Diane had had these dogs locked up for a long time and was feeding them for quite awhile if they could shit that much. She made them live in their own filth for months before she quit feeding them.
Another thing that occurred to me today is what Saundra Hensel, a friend from Chihuahua Rescue & Transport who used to live in Chicago. She was friends with Diane, and told me once that Diane had offered to teach her to grind nails. It's not an easy grooming process to learn, so she told Saundra that she'd teach her on Jett, the Eldrup's rottie, and then she'd teach her how to do her (Saundra) own chihuahua's nail.
HOLD ON A MINUTE HERE....a groomer, Diane, who had offered to teach someone to grind nails (rather than just cut them which leaves them sharp and scratchy), let these dogs grow nails that curled under and into their paws???? Just one more sign of her losing all sense of right from wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment