Charges filed against vet, manager of Dolton Animal Hospital

CHICAGO RIDGE, Ill. (WLS) -- Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced charges against the veterinarian and office manager of Dolton Animal Hospital Tuesday evening. Dr. Amardeep Sangha, 54, of Naperville and Sharon Cargile, 59, of Chicago are each charged with five counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and eight counts of misdemeanor violations of owner's duties.

The animal hospital was shut down and all animals were removed after the remains of four dogs were found Sunday in its basement, and the rest of the animals were found in deplorable conditions.

Dr. Amardeep Sangha, 54, of Naperville (left) and Sharon Cargile, 59, of Chicago (right).

Dart said the Sangha has a lawyer and is not speaking to police, while the Cargile has spoken with police and said "things just got away from them."

"I can't really understand the dynamics here at all," Dart said. "The cages were not kept at all, the animals were laying in their own feces. This wasn't [a case ] where there's any element of a close call, or something's just a little bit off."

Ten dogs were removed from the hospital, emaciated but alive. Eight of those dogs have been relocated to the Animal Welfare League, but two of them have taken a turn for the worse and may not make it. All of the surviving dogs will be put up for adoption at the Animal Welfare League.

"Sunday night when they came in it broke my heart, as they all came in wagging their tail," said Linda Estrada, director and president of the Animal Welfare League. "And what broke our heart is that this is what people did to them and they still loved us."

The Village of Dalton has long-time contract with Dolton Animal Hospital. Dart said he would like a Cook County ordinance introduced that would require licensing of those hospitals that have agreements with municipalities and have those hospitals be inspected at least once a year.