April 03--A Batavia woman is facing felony charges after police said she was responsible for locking eight dogs inside a van, three of which later died.
About 5:45 p.m. Thursday, a Batavia police officer found a van in a parking lot at 100 N. Island Ave. and discovered dogs inside that "appeared to be in distress," according to a police statement.
The van doors were locked and its windows were closed and covered with towels, police said. Officer used tools to break into the vehicle and found two male and six female dogs.
Two of the dogs had died, and the six other dogs "appeared to be suffering from extreme dehydration," police said in a statement.
Police contacted Kane County animal control which transported the six living dogs to an animal hospital in Aurora. One of the dogs died while en route to the hospital, police said.
Police later found the owner of the dogs and took her into custody. The owner, Julie Brungard-Giordano, 47, was charged with four felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Brungard-Girodano, of the 200 block of North Island Avenue, was also charged with four misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals, according to police.
