Animal Shelter Shut Down in Tinley Park

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Feb 13, 2011 5:00PM

Investigators have shut down an animal shelter in Tinley Park after a significant population of the animals within the shelter were found to be malnourished, sick, or dead. Authorities visited the shelter, Dazzle's Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, this past Friday. What they found at the shelter was unpleasant and extremely disheartening:

Officers visited Dazzle's Painted Pastures on Friday with a search warrant. They found a dead miniature horse and a dead Himalayan cat. Officers seized 63 dogs, 31 cats and six rabbits. They also removed 30 horses, ponies, sheep, goats and llamas.

The owner of the shelter, Dawn Hamill, insisted that she "didn't do anything wrong" and that everything was a "huge misunderstanding." When confronted by the authorities, Hamill admitted that the situation got out of control but that she had good intentions:

Investigators said Hamill took the animals in with the intention of finding them homes. In an interview last week she said she was having difficulty caring for the animals.

"After her arrest, Hamill thanked investigators for intervening in a situation that had grown out of control and which led to criminal charges," a sheriff's official said.

Hamill is due in court March 11 regarding her criminal charges.