A Model Worth Exporting: Why Safe Humane’s Court Case Dog Program Matters for Illinois (and Beyond)
By Cynthia L. Bathurst, Ph.D.
Animal Law,
May 2026
For most of the history of our anti-cruelty statutes, when dogs were involved in a cruelty or fighting case, the animals were taken in as live “evidence,” held in shelter kennels for the full run of the prosecution—often for months, even years—and then, after verdicts were returned and appeals exhausted, quietly euthanized. Safe Humane Chicago’s Court Case Dog (CCD) program offers an alternative that can be implemented in other jurisdictions.
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