A woman reached a settlement with McHenry County on Thursday after prosecutors alleged she was a “reckless dog owner” following an April incident where her dogs bit multiple people near McHenry, leading to a deputy fatally shooting one of the dogs.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded on the evening of April 11 to the area of West Heumann Drive and Stilling Boulevard in unincorporated McHenry.
The sheriff’s office said they received a call for an aggressive dog fight in the area.
The owner reported she was unable to separate her dogs and was bitten by one of them.
A neighbor who attempted to help the owner also suffered bite wounds, prompting the McHenry Township Fire Protection District to also respond.
Deputies arrived and found three dogs loosely enclosed on a front porch and two dogs corralled in a car.
While speaking with the owners, the three dogs broke through the porch gate and aggressively ran toward responding deputies and fire/rescue personnel.
Less-lethal attempts to control the dogs were made using tasers and a fire extinguisher.
One of the deputies then fatally shot one of the dogs.
A deputy suffered a dog bite and was treated at a nearby hospital. A second deputy who was reportedly injured declined medical treatment.
McHenry County Animal Control responded to the scene and impounded three of the dogs.
The last remaining dog was on the loose before being located several days later.
On April 26, McHenry County, represented by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, filed a civil complaint against the owner of the dogs, Lisa Reed.
The complaint sought to declare Reed as a “reckless dog owner” under a county ordinance.
Reed is the legal owner of the five dogs involved in the April 11 incident.
The dogs are described as two bulldog mixes, an American pit terrier, a Staffordshire mix and a pitbull mix, according to the civil complaint filed in court.
Reed had at least 20 ordinance violation cases in McHenry County involving her dogs, with convictions in three of the cases.
Most of the cases are for non-compliance with rabies quarantine, while a few are for failing to vaccinate the dogs and having no dog license.
Following the April 11 incident, Reed received 14 ordinance violation citations from the county for dogs running at large, not immunizing the dogs and not registering the dogs with the county, the complaint said.
The complaint stated that the dogs involved on April 11 had a history of incidents dating back to at least 2016.
The dogs ran at large in April 2016, May 2018, June 2018, July 2018 and November 2018.
In December 2018, one of the five dogs bit someone, the complaint added.
The county asked the McHenry County Circuit Court to find that Reed is a reckless dog owner, order the immediate impoundment and forfeiture of Reed’s dogs and prohibit Reed from owning any dog for three years.
Reed hired Attorney Tracy McGonigle of the McKenna Law Firm in Crystal Lake to represent her.
Reed and her attorney raised several affirmative defenses against the county’s complaint.
Reed said that her dogs were not at large when the sheriff’s office arrived at her home.
One of her dogs was nine years old and had hip dysplasia, while another was also nine years old and had complications due to a prior tailbone fracture, a court document said.
Paramedics escorted Reed away from her house to be evaluated while the dogs were contained by gates at the front porch.
“Immediately after leaving her house, Lisa heard police tasers, dogs screaming, and gunshots” and “Lisa’s dogs ran from the officers in an attempt to avoid being shot or tased,” the document said.
Reed and her attorney said that someone other than her or her family opened the porch gates, allowing the dogs to run off the property.
“To the extent any dogs bit any of the officers, the dogs reacted in self-defense to the provocation of the tazing and gunshots,” Reed said as an affirmative defense.
Reed and her attorney said that Reed is not a reckless dog owner because “they were provoked by the officers to flee and defend themselves from a perceived attack.”
They also allege that the neighbor who came to aid Reed had trespassed and provoked one of the dogs, causing the dog to bite the neighbor in self-defense.
Reed and her attorney also said that Reed cannot be deemed a reckless dog owner under the ordinance because she has not been convicted of three or more ordinance violations relating to dogs within a three-year period.
On Thursday, both parties reached a settlement during a bench trial which included over a dozen witnesses called on by the county.
The witnesses included members of McHenry County Animal Control and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
The county also exhibited videos and photos from deputies’ body-worn and car dashboard cameras.
As a result of the agreed settlement, McHenry County Judge Joel Berg ordered Reed to surrender ownership of two of her dogs to animal control and pick up one of her dogs from McHenry County Animal Control on Wednesday.
She was further ordered to register the dog she would pick up with Lake County Animal Control because she sold her McHenry County home and now resides in Lake County.
That dog must be neutered before September 13, the judge ordered.
McHenry County Animal Control would cover the costs of vaccinating the dog for rabies and ensuring the dog has a microchip before Reed picks the dog up.
Reed was also ordered to not own dogs in McHenry County for three years.
The case continues with a status hearing on September 19.