PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Bartonville man, linked to a Princeville home where several malnourished animals were found earlier this summer, was indicted for aggravated animal cruelty.
Stephen Kalb, 41, was charged in late July with one count of aggravated animal cruelty, a felony that could send him to prison for up to five years. He is accused of failing to care for a dog that was found dead in a shed in the house’s backyard.
His charge was similar to one levied against Stacy Mueller in May when she was arrested by deputies with the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. When she was indicted in June by a Peoria County grand jury, she was also charged with misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty related to the treatment or starvation of the dogs, identified in court records as as Cookies, Cappuccino, and Ziggy.
Mueller’s felony case is set for trial in October. But, she has ordered to pay more than $46,000 in fines stemming from 36 ordinance violations related to the improper registration and inoculation of dogs or cats, according to online records form Peoria County Circuit Court.
Kalb’s case is similar to Mueller’s in that both felony counts stem from the same incident at Mueller’s home.
An animal control officer with Peoria County Animal Protection Services asked for assistance from a sheriff’s deputy regarding the home in Princeville.
Once there, the deputy and the case worker observed deplorable conditions at the home that included a boarded up shed where the dogs were being held, piles of feces two to three inches deep and several dogs covered with feces and flies, according to court records. One dog was dead.
The temperature inside the shed was at least 94 degree though the PCAPS animal control officer believed the temperature to be much higher with the windows and doors closed.
