CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A DuPage County judge has sentenced a Woodridge man to 20 days in jail after he was convicted in a fatal dog kennel fire nearly three years ago.
DuPage County Judge Robert Miller handed down the 20-day sentence three weeks after finding Garrett Mercado, 32, of Woodridge, guilty of animal cruelty and violation of owner’s duties.
Prosecutors wanted the 32-year-old man to serve 180 days for the fire that killed 29 dogs.
State’s Attorney Robert Berlin called the case "heartbreaking" and said the dogs were living in filthy, deplorable conditions before the fire, including some that had puncture wounds, lacerations, abrasions, weight loss, muscle wasting, and dehydration.
Mercado ran D and D Kennel in West Chicago and left for about five hours on January 14, 2019, during which time the fire broke out. Investigators never determined the cause of the fire.
A video by county and state inspectors of the property in 2018, obtained by the Chicago Tribune, showed dogs in cages stacked on top of each other with some too small for them.
But, Mercado had defenders, like the head of a pit bull rescue, who called him a hero and told the Tribune he was a better trainer than Cesar Millan.
In addition to the jail sentence, Mercado will serve two years of probation followed by four years of conditional discharge during which time he will only be allowed to own one dog.
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