ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR/Gray News) – A man in Illinois has been charged with animal torture and aggravated animal cruelty after he allegedly ran over his own dog.
An officer in Rockford responded to a report that a dog had been hit by a vehicle that did not stop on Christmas Day 2024.
At the scene, the responding officer said 52-year-old Jon Duncan was found crying outside his truck, which had a black Labrador named Duke in the driver’s side seat.
The officer reported that he advised Duncan to take the animal to emergency services.
Duncan reportedly told first responders he planned to take Duke to Freeport Animal Clinic but turned around then he noticed the dog’s condition had gotten worse.
The police report says Duke was dropped off at Animal Emergency Clinic of Rockford around 7:05 p.m.
Neighbors who saw the accident take place reportedly told officers Duncan had been chasing the dog off his property all day, trying to give it away.
They also said he asked neighbors to call Animal Control to take the dog.
Witnesses, including Denise Ackerman, reportedly told police Duncan had been driving erratically and swerved to hit the dog.
Duncan also denied this claim, saying he had been trying to catch Duke.
Ackerman said she saw this event take place right in front of her home. She said it will take a long time to get the sight and sounds of the suffering dog out of her mind.
“Something has to be done. He can’t do that,” Ackerman said. “You know if he would have stopped, it probably would have been different, but he didn’t even stop to get out to see what he hit.”
Stephanie Hicks, the executive director of Care for Pets, said aggravated animal cruelty and animal torture are the highest felonies under the Animal Welfare Act.
“One carries a possible sentence of one to three years, and the other, I believe is three to five years,” Hicks said.
Rockford Against Animal Violence started a petition to convince the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s office to make sure the case goes to trial. The petition can be found here.
“I think the public involvement in this is really important so that there is a statement saying that this is not OK,” Hicks said. “There is a ton of research out there that shows there are correlations between animal violence and people violence.”
Duncan is scheduled to appear in court on, Jan. 10.
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