It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when things went from bad to worse for Sharon and Terry Jones.
But three years after her husband lost his job, Sharon Jones admitted the problems were piling up. The plumbing and the hot water heater stopped working in the modest Streamwood home the couple shared with their disabled adult daughter. The sewer would back up into the bathtub, leaving the family to use bedpans instead of toilets. They took sponge baths by heating water on the stove.
Then last summer the village intervened, citing the Joneses for living in unsanitary conditions, among other alleged violations. The home was declared unfit for occupancy by humans — not to mention the pugs kept by the family — which, by the Joneses’ count, once numbered at least 28 and, one village official said, weren’t housebroken.
But even with the prospect of the village-imposed fines adding up, the family refused to give up the dozen or so pugs that remained after a rescue group got involved and removed a large number of dogs.
Though the family had been issued a citation for exceeding the village limit of three dogs, Sharon Jones insisted she was training some of them to be service dogs for her daughter Chastity, 33, who, Sharon said, suffers from a variety of ailments, including epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
“I won’t give them up,” Chastity said recently. “They’re my helpers.”
Years into the economic downturn, as many families continue to struggle to keep up their households, the plight of the Joneses demonstrates how difficult it can be for municipalities and the court system to intervene in cases where families might be putting themselves in danger because of unsanitary conditions.
Governments have to balance the rights of residents who might not want help — and who often don’t have the means to pay fines and legal fees — with neighbors concerned about property values and the good of the community at large. And when pets are involved — even in cases not as extreme as the Joneses’ two dozen-plus pugs — that adds another level of complication.
“The village was caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Tom Bastian, Streamwood village attorney, who prosecuted the Jones case. “Neighbors say, ‘Why don’t you do something?’ Others say, ‘Why are you picking on older people?'”
Village officials said they sought to help the family but also had to seek a solution: force the Joneses to either give up their remaining dogs and clean up their house, or give up their house and move out.
“Two things are at play here: the welfare of the dogs and the condition of the house,” Bastian said. “We can’t let anybody live in it until it is fixed.”
Further complicating some of these cases is that sometimes the residents in question also suffer from mental health problems, such as hoarding. Sometimes, animal abuse or child abuse are also at play, experts say.
Municipalities typically take a multipronged approach to the issue, said veteran Chicago-area municipal attorney Jack Siegel. First, they issue citations against the property owner for housing code violations. Then they contact the county animal control or an animal rescue organization to remove the animals. If necessary, they evict the family and may refer them to the state Department of Children and Family Services.
In the most severe cases, Siegel said, municipalities have had to pursue involuntary commitment of the resident to a psychiatric facility. In other extreme scenarios, serious criminal charges can come into play. In September, a 14-year-old boy died of pneumonia at a house in Berwyn that was overrun with about 200 animals and covered in filth. His mother was charged with criminal neglect of a disabled child, a felony, as well as misdemeanor animal hoarding.
In the Jones case, officials used another tool to help resolve the case: the use of a group of attorneys who have banded together to help such families for free and try to clear such cases through a clogged court system.
On Nov. 28, the charges against the Joneses were dropped in Cook County Circuit Court in Rolling Meadows after the family agreed to leave the home.
“The nuisance has been abated,” said Ernest Blomquist, an Arlington Heights private attorney and village prosecutor who in this case helped negotiate the settlement at no charge to the Joneses. Blomquist teamed with Angela Peters, another attorney who worked pro bono and is an animal rights advocate.
Siegel said many of these cases are tricky because often they don’t come to light until a neighbor complains and, by then, the problems are firmly entrenched.
“It’s a continuing problem,” Siegel said. “Generally, the situation is pretty bad before we get wind of it.”
Streamwood officials were similarly tipped off to potential violations at the Jones residence, in the 900 block of Sunnydale Drive, through a third-party complaint after the Joneses’ dogs drew attention to their plight.
When village inspectors showed up in July to investigate, “we found the dogs had been defecating and urinating in the house in one area,” said John Peterson, Streamwood’s community development director. “We tried to help the family clean up.”
Peterson said village officials said the house was so overrun by the energetic dogs that officials never could get an actual count of the canines.
Inspectors cited the family for having nonfunctioning plumbing, living in unsanitary conditions and having more than three dogs, the village limit. Each citation carried a fine of up to $750.
The village also summoned Northern Illinois Pug Rescue and Adoption, which later removed 16 dogs from the house — two of which later gave birth to litters, said Julie Jencks of the rescue group — leaving the family with about a dozen others. The family refused to give those dogs up, even though they faced more than $2,000 in additional fines.
“The dogs were free-breeding, none of them had shots and they were never treated for worms or fleas,” said Jencks.
Jencks said all of the seized dogs have been placed into new homes except for puppies from the two litters. Counting the puppies, she said the organization took in 25 pugs. One woman who took in three of the dogs said she later had to give them up because of their health problems.
Peters and Blomquist, the attorneys, were called upon to help after the family appeared in court with three dogs escorting Chastity in a wheelchair.
“These cases come into housing court and are often a problem for the judge, who has trouble communicating with the defendants,” said Blomquist. “Many of them don’t have funds for attorneys, so we do it pro bono.”
Complicating matters in this case were that the delinquent taxes on the property had been sold, officials said, meaning the Joneses were at risk of losing ownership of their home, anyway. With all of that working against the Joneses, the family agreed to move away. Sharon Jones said they — and their 12 remaining pugs — were moving to Florida to live with friends.
Peters, who formed an animal rights subcommittee for the State Bar Association, says it was the best option for the family and the village.
“I do try to keep people from paying fines in these types of cases,” said Peters. “But the problem here isn’t really over. Now it’s the problem of another state.”
Staff reporter Robert McCoppin contributed.
