ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – A Rockford man is charged with animal torture and aggravated animal cruelty after he allegedly ran over his own dog.
On December 25, 2024, police received a call around 5:15 p.m. that a dog had been hit by a vehicle that did not stop on Linda Avenue.
At the scene, the responding officer says 52-year-old Jon Duncan was found crying outside his truck, which had a black Labrador named Duke in the driver’s side seat.
The officer reports that he advised Duncan to take the animal to emergency services. Duncan allegedly told first responders he had intended to take Duke to Freeport Animal Clinic but turned around when the noticed the dog’s condition had gotten worse. The report says Duke was then dropped off at Animal Emergency Clinic of Rockford around 7:05 p.m.
Neighbors who witnessed the incident reportedly told officers Duncan had been chasing the dog off his property all day, trying to give it away. They say he also asked neighbors to call Animal Control to take the dog. Duncan allegedly denied these claims.
Witnesses, like Denise Ackerman, reported to police that Duncan had been driving erratically and swerved to hit the dog. Duncan denied this as well and claimed he had been trying to catch Duke.
Ackerman watched the incident take place, right in front of her home. She says it will take a long time to get the sight and sound of the suffering dog out of her mind.
“Something has to be done. He can’t do that,” Ackerman says. “You know if he would have stopped, it probably would have been different, but he didn’t even stop to get out to see what he hit.”
Stephanie Hicks, the executive director of Care for Pets, explains that aggravated animal cruelty and animal torture are the highest felonies under the Animal Welfare Act.
“One carries a possible sentence of 1 to 3 years, and the other, I believe is 3 to 5 years,” Hicks says.
Rockford Against Animal Violence started a petition to convince the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s office to make sure the case goes to trial. You can find the petition here.
“I think the public involvement in this is really important so that there is a statement saying that this is not okay,” Hicks says. “There is a ton of research out there that shows there are correlations between animal violence and people violence.”
Duncan is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30p.m, January 10 at the Winnebago County Courthouse.
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