Animal control officers illegally trafficking in stolen animals?

Cicero, IL officials investigating the town's Animal Control Department, of which the entire staff was suspended last week amid allegations of animal cruelty and other improprieties, are looking at whether officers illegally trafficked in stolen animals, a town spokesman said Wednesday.

The investigation, led by the town's new head of police internal affairs, also is focused on whether animal control officers maintained a wish list that was used in targeting local pets for seizure and illicit resale, according to Cicero spokesman Dan Proft.

On Monday, Proft said the investigation was launched partly in response to complaints of animal cruelty, including claims that animal control officers staged dogfights in the town's pound, tossed a cat into a dog's cage and beat a captured wild animal with a metal pipe. ... more