Sept. 06--A 43-year-old Fuller Park man was ordered held in Cook County Jail after he was charged with 10 felonies in connection with a dogfighting ring he's accused of running, according to police.
Clifford McNeil, was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, felony dogfighting, misdemeanor animal owner duty violations and eight misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.
Police obtained "credible intelligence of animal cruelty and dog fighting activity" and gained entry to the yard and garage of a home in the 4800 block of South Shields about 10 a.m. Friday.
Police didn't describe further what led them to the home.
McNeil, of the 4700 block of South Shields Avenue, who police said owned all the dogs, was employed for maintenance of the yard and garage, located down the street from his house. He was paid $200 a month for the maintenance work.
Police found 16 pit bulls on the property, including seven pit bulls connected to heavy chains in the yard, one pit bull in a cage filled with feces and a pit bull in a cage inside the garage, which was with seven two-week old pit bull puppies with no access to food or water, prosecutors said.
The yard and the dog houses in the yard were littered with feces, prosecutors said. No people lived in the garage.
Inside the garage, Police also discovered a modified treadmill with a chain and wooden boards designed to narrow the dog's path, a modification "commonly indicative of training dogs to fight," prosecutors said.
McNeil said he had no veterinary documentation for the dogs and that he administered pain medication to them using a syringe, prosecutors said. A refrigerator in the garage contained numerous vials of what prosecutors called "suspect dog medication."
Examination of the dogs revealed that two of the pit bulls chained in the yard had heavy head scarring on their muzzles and the tops of their heads, which prosecutors said was indicative of dogfighting. The dogs also had cropped ears.
Animal Care and Control recovered all the dogs, which were given physical and psychological evaluations, according to court documents.
Neighbors raised questions about the charges against McNeil Saturday, and several agreed that McNeil had a "heart of gold."
They said McNeil was simply a dog lover, and someone who anchored the neighborhood with his generosity. He cut neighbors' lawns, worked on landscaping and allowed the neighbors to park their cars at the garage he maintained as an alternative to street parking.
Above all, he would heal their dogs. Tateanna Sloan, McNeil's girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, counted on her fingers the number of dogs McNeil either adopted or nursed to health.
She denied any allegations that McNeil didn't provide sufficient food, water or shelter to the dogs. She said there were garbage bins filled with dog food at the garage, and that the refrigerator full of medicine was used to treat sick neighborhood dogs.
Sloan added that McNeil, whose mother had recently died, had become increasingly fond of caring for animals.
"I know he's not a bad person. I told him to patient. He didn't do anything wrong and he knows he didn't do anything wrong," she said. "I talked to him yesterday. He sounds calm and collected."
She said she and others believe McNeil was set up, and that police received inaccurate information from a man who feuded with McNeil over rent payments.
McNeil has one previous felony from 1991 for possession of an uncontrolled substance. He appeared in bond court Saturday afternoon, where he was held in lieu of $30,000 bail by Judge Laura Marie Sullivan.
Neighbors said McNeil lives with his elderly father, for whom he cares. McNeil also suffers from epilepsy, according to court documents.
Ivy Roberts, who lives across the street from McNeil, said McNeil was like a cousin to her, and called him a "sweetheart" who treated two of her own dogs when they were sick.
"Cliff is a cool man. He heals dogs," she said. "Did they see a fight? No, they didn't."
"Look at the pictures of those dogs on T.V.," she added. "All those dogs are healthy."
Chicago Tribune reporter Alexandra Chachkevitch contributed.
meltagouri@tribune.com
