Docket #: 2011-1110: Dept of Ag re: Humane Association

The Illinois Department of Agriculture has finalized it's report on the stolen dogs from a few months ago.

It is clear from this report that:

- Mel Elston knew where the dogs were taken.

- Mel Elston failed to get the dog scanned for a chip; funny that she followed the 7 day rule of Animal Control, but decided not to follow their scanning rule. She also failed to notify Animal Control that the dogs were "found".

- Department of Agriculture informed her that she did not have the authority to pick up strays - that's the job of Animal Control.

- Mel Elston knew who adopted the dogs and chose not to return them to the rightful owner.

- Department of Agriculture recommended the Humane Association be cited for failure to follow procedure and to  take steps to return the dogs to the rightful owner.

To date the Edgar County Humane Association has refused to return the dogs to their owner, which now forces the owner to contemplate filing a civil suit.

One thing to keep in mind after this investigation - Mel Elston (Edgar County Humane Association), DOES NOT have the authority to take dogs, stray or not, and they certainly cannot make the decision on whether an owner gets their dogs back - althought they effectively did that in this case. There are words for people that do things like this, but I choose to keep the dirty language off of this website.

The final report can be viewed here: IlDeptAg