May 29--The owner of a pet care service has been charged with animal cruelty after a security camera caught him kicking a beagle puppy in the elevator of a West Loop apartment building, police said.
Jonathon Stenholt, 39, was arrested Thursday after he was identified as the person seen stepping on the dog's paw and then, as the beagle cowers, kicking it in the stomach while riding the elevator of the building in the 100 block of North Desplaines Street, according to a police statement.
Police were called to the building around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday for an animal abuse complaint, according to Officer Jose Estrada. The building's security staff showed the video to officers, who advised the staff to have the dog's owner follow up with a police report.
Stenholt ran a company called Alone at Home Pet Care and had other customers in the Desplaines building. In fact, the video shows him with a second dog in the elevator.
In an email to other Alone at Home Pet Care clients this week, the owner of the beagle wrote: "As you can imagine, I am extremely upset about this incident and the fact that I trusted Jon to come into my home and care for my dog. ... I felt that I had to share this video with all of you due to extreme concern for the safety of your animals."
Jim Cunningham, chief operating officer of Marquette Companies, which manages the apartment building, declined to discuss the incident in detail but said Stenholt will no longer be allowed to care for animals at buildings managed by Marquette.
"The great thing about this is the door staff noticed something was wrong and reported it to the resident," he said.
The building's management team later sent an email to residents broadening the building's ban to include the entire pet care company and saying they were "extremely saddened" by the incident.
Jim Capraro, a retired nonprofit executive, said he and his wife, Pam, were customers of Alone at Home Pet Care for about four years -- until they found out Wednesday what happened.
The Capraros live in another building but got emails Wednesday from both the dog owner and Stenholt about the incident.
Capraro said they never had any concerns about the Alone at Home staff caring for their dog, adding that their staff had been "absolutely wonderful."
"This was a total shocker," Capraro said.
Stenholt, of the 5900 block of West Waveland Avenue, will appear in court July 1.
gtrotter@tribpub.com
