From Marengo’s Cynthia Allen Schenk:
Dear Ogle County Board Members,
I am writing as an Illinois resident and animal welfare advocate to request oversight, transparency, and accountability regarding the handling of documented steer-tailing complaints within Ogle County.
For several years, citizens and animal welfare organizations have submitted complaints, eyewitness reports, photographs, drone footage, and video evidence regarding steer-tailing events in northern Illinois. Public reporting indicates that Ogle County officials received such complaints but declined to pursue animal cruelty prosecutions, citing the absence of a statute specifically banning steer-tailing.
Yet in neighboring McHenry County, the Sheriff’s Office investigated and filed multiple animal cruelty charges under the existing Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act. This raises an obvious question:
If McHenry County can investigate and prosecute alleged animal cruelty using existing Illinois law, why has Ogle County concluded that existing law is insufficient?
I respectfully request that the County Board exercise its oversight responsibilities and seek answers from both the Sheriff’s Office and the State’s Attorney regarding. I am skilled at FOIA requests and will be initiating over the next weeks:
- The number of steer-tailing complaints received during the past five years.
- The number of investigations opened.
- The investigative steps taken in response to complaints.
- The reasons complaints were closed without charges.
- Whether veterinarians or animal welfare experts reviewed the submitted evidence.
- Whether the County believes the Humane Care for Animals Act currently applies to steer-tailing events. I have specific language that it does.
- Whether written policies exist regarding the investigation of alleged animal cruelty occurring at rodeos or charreadas.
This request is not about culture, ethnicity, or tradition. The issue is whether Illinois animal cruelty laws are being applied equally and consistently, or are decisions being racially or for other reasons motivated?
The taxpayers and voters have a right to know. My goal is to make sure they do. It’s also my goal to ensure that federal agencies are included in this conversation, as I am not sure we are safe without additional oversight from law enforcement.
No activity should be exempt from scrutiny simply because it is described as cultural. The relevant question is whether animals are receiving humane treatment as required by Illinois law.
Public reporting has documented allegations of degloving injuries, broken limbs, exhaustion, lack of veterinary care, and other serious injuries associated with steer-tailing events. Such allegations warrant professional investigation and transparent public accountability for all actions taken by the sheriff and the state’s attorney.
Rarely are these crimes not part of a deep ecosystem of additional crimes, including human trafficking, illegal gun sales, narcotics, cock fighting, illegal immigration, grand larceny, thefts, etc.
The County Board should also examine why neighboring jurisdictions have reached different conclusions regarding enforcement. McHenry County’s recent prosecutions suggest that existing law may already provide tools for action when sufficient evidence exists.
I respectfully request that this issue be placed on the agenda for the next public meeting and that county residents be given an opportunity to hear directly from the Sheriff’s Office and the State’s Attorney regarding their investigative practices and their legal interpretation of the Humane Care for Animals Act.
The public deserves, and we demand, confidence that animal cruelty complaints are being evaluated thoroughly, objectively, and consistently.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Allen Schenk
“Evil persists when good men do nothing.”
Former Regional Director Ted Dabrowski’s campaign for Governor
Corporate Executive in Global Trade, Risk, and Expert in U.S. Customs Regulations
Seven-Year Library Board Trustee and Committeeman, McHenry County GOP
Forty-Year Animal Welfare Legislation Advocate and Activist
Obsessed with Voter Outreach and Engagement to Drive Change in Public Office
