27 dogs removed from Peoria home after pair arrested on animal cruelty charges

PEORIA (25News Now) - Law enforcement arrested a Peoria man and woman Thursday who they said were responsible for starving 27 dogs, all of whom were removed from the home.

The suspects, 60-year-old Eileen H. Wood and 54-year-old Kevin W. Schuch both face a slew of charges, including 27 counts each of cruel treatment of animals and 27 counts each of violation of owner duties under humane care for animals acts.

Peoria Police said just after 8:45 a.m. Thursday, police were called to the 2800 block of W. Meidroth on a welfare check of the suspects. When officers arrived, they found 27 dogs that were “extremely malnourished” and kept in “unlivable conditions” inside the home.

Takema Sanders, a neighbor of the two, said they never saw the couple take the dogs out to go to the bathroom, and that she heard constant yelling from the duo and whining from the dogs.

“It was just crazy with all the dogs coming out of the house. One of the men [retrieving the dogs] couldn’t go back in there because the smell was so terrible,” said Sanders. “It stinks in there, the house is messy, there’s dog food everywhere, cat litter, poop, and it smells like pee — every time he comes out that back door it stinks. You can smell it in the air.”

Sanders also said she saw rodents enter the house too, such as raccoons and possums.

Officers called animal control to collect the dogs. Meanwhile, Wood and Schuch were taken to the Peoria County Jail.

Those with any information regarding this incident are encouraged to contact the Peoria Police Department at 309-673-4521, tip411 (anonymously), or Crime Stoppers (anonymously) at 309-673-9000.

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