CHICAGO — A 28-year-old man was arrested on animal cruelty charges Friday morning when police discovered a pair of "severely" emaciated pitbulls in his home - as well as a cache of drugs and weapons.
Jarcivius Taylor, 28, of the 12800 block of South Green Street, was charged with nine crimes, including aggravated cruelty to animals, possession of a firearm with an expired FOID card and posession of a controlled substance.
Police had earlier learned that Taylor was involved with animal cruelty, police said in a news release. When they executed the search warrant Friday morning, they found a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, a Yugoslavian semi-automatic assault rifle, cocaine, cannabis and more than $1,500 in cash, the release said.
They also found two abused pitbulls. One, a white and grey female, was "extremely" emaciated with her hip bones protruding, scarring around the head and neck - indicating it had been in fights - an open wound near its mouth and a deformed front leg, possibly from an untreated injury. Officers from the Animal Crimes team determined the injuries were so severe, they dog needed to be euthanized.
Another pitbull, a male, was mistreated and underweight, police said. Taylor admitted to owning the dogs, but refused to give them up. The state will file a petition to take ownership of the animals, police said.
