Will County officials claim animal abuse at Joliet rodeo venue

Will County government is seeking a temporary restraining order against the operator of a Joliet rodeo venue over allegations of animal abuse.

An emergency petition for the restraining order against the Horseman Association Club of the North of Joliet Illinois was filed last Friday by Toni Renken, an assistant state’s attorney for Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.

Renkin’s petition alleged a Steve Hindi, president of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, had procured videos on Aug. 15 depicting animal abuse at the rodeo venue known as La Herradura De Joliet, 18225 Briggs St., Joliet.

On Aug. 15, Hindi saw instances of “hitting horses in the head, tail grabbing, cattle prodding and horse tripping” in violation of a state law that said no person may “knowingly pole or trip a horse by any means for entertainment or sport purposes,” according to Renkin’s petition.

“Irreparable harm and injury to animals may occur if this order is not entered,” according to Renkin’s petition.

The petition is asking a judge to enter an order to stop the Horseman Association Club of the North of Joliet Illinois from “engaging in an activity which may [cause] injury other otherwise harm animals.”

Frank Cservenyak, attorney for the association, denied the animal abuse allegations from Glasgow’s office.

“I’m confident that my client is not doing anything illegal,” Cservenyak said.

He said he hasn’t seen any drone footage that was cited in the emergency petition for the protective order.

“We’re not into the discovery process yet,” he said.

The next status hearing on the petition is set for Nov. 1.

On Friday, Judge John Anderson entered an order that mandated the following:

• The state’s attorney’s office must file a verified complaint on Monday.

• The Horseman Association Club of the North of Joliet Illinois withdraws their motion to dismiss the emergency petition.

• The association agrees to “refrain from all animal abuse, including horse tripping and de-gloving.”

• Both parties agree to having “no drones flying over the rodeo property.”

• The association will have a licensed veterinarian on site starting on Sunday.

A verified complaint was filed by the state’s attorney’s office on Monday, which had the same allegations in the emergency petition.

The complaint said Anna Payton, administrator of Will County Animal Control, reviewed the videos watched by Hindi and saw the same alleged animal abuse as he did.

At the July 19 Will County Board meeting, Mike Kobliska, a member of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, spoke during the public comment portion about seeing “gross abuse” of horses and steers at “Mexican-style rodeos” in Will County.

“My organization, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, has used drones to video document animals being abused in clear violation of state laws at these events,” Kobliska said.

The Will County Board’s legislative committee was provided information from the Will County Sheriff’s Office regarding a detective’s investigation of animal abuse complaints at La Herradura De Joliet.

The sheriff’s office said as the investigation progressed, it was determined that a “a new course of action should be taken due to the complexity of identifying potential suspects related to these complaints.”