US congressman Mike Quigley joins effort to halt deportation of French bulldogs found abandoned in O’Hare warehouse
With 15 French bulldogs that were rescued from a cargo warehouse at O’Hare International Airport last month facing a Monday deportation back to the Middle East, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley on Friday said he is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt its plan to ship the recovering dogs back on a 13-hour flight to Jordan.
"We need cooperation from the Jordanian government but we also need a better system when it does happen,'' said Quigley, who was adamant that people should adopt only from shelters.
A total of 20 dogs were discovered by an employee, who tipped off the Chicago Police Department, at the airport cargo warehouse in late August, prompting officers to investigate an animal abuse incident, a police spokeswoman said this week.
Officers found 16 French bulldogs in small cages, covered in feces and urine, without water or food, and one dog was deceased, she said.
“The investigation revealed that these animals have received little, if any care since arriving in Chicago on Aug. 28, and would need rescue at this time,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the rescue organization caring for the pups said the animals found languishing in the warehouse also included four large-breed dogs, two of which are being cared for by Chicago Animal Care and Control, and two that are unaccounted for.
The airline that shipped the dogs was issued two citations, one with 17 counts of animal neglect and a second for animal neglect that may have contributed to the death of a male canine.
While police declined to name the airline, a spokesman with the CDC said in a statement Friday that it was Royal Jordanian Air.
“This dog was part of a shipment of 20 dogs that had been denied entry to the U.S. on Aug. 28, 2020, due to fraudulent paperwork,” CDC spokesman Marcus Hubbard said, adding that the "dogs had been evaluated to be significantly younger than the ages listed on their rabies vaccination certificates.”
The deceased dog was tested at a Chicago facility for rabies and was negative, Hubbard said, “and the remaining dogs were transported to local kennel facilities for assessment, care, and continued monitoring.”
When questioned why the sick dogs were required to be shipped back to Jordan, Hubbard said, "Dogs that are imported into the United States must be vaccinated against rabies at 12 weeks of age or older and must wait 28 days after initial vaccination before entering the country. Dogs coming from countries and political units with a high risk of rabies need a valid rabies vaccination certificate. "
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires dogs be housed in accordance with Animal Welfare Act standards,” Hubbard said, adding: “CDC reiterated these requirements to the airline on Aug. 28; however, the airline failed to transport the dogs from the airport warehouse to an appropriate animal care facility, such as a kennel or veterinary clinic, until Aug. 30.”
A spokesman for the United States Department of Agriculture said in an email, “the dogs were being held under CDC authority not USDA authority.”
Officials at Royal Jordanian Air were not immediately available.
But Mary Scheffke, a representative with Chicago French Bulldog Rescue, which has been providing the dogs with shelter and care, said they were likely sent to Chicago from an individual from Jordan working with a puppy mill.
“CDC is the only agency our lawyer has (corresponded) with. And they are demanding (the dogs) are flown back, not the seller in Jordan,” Scheffke said.
“There is no guarantee someone will be at the airport in Jordan to pick them up, and that doesn’t seem to be a concern from the CDC-they just want them on a flight out of Chicago,” Scheffke added.
Quigley said he suggested to the CDC that rather than shipping the dogs back to Jordan on Monday, they should consider allowing the animals to continue to be sheltered and treated by the Chicago veterinarians, or sent to a special quarantine facility adjacent to Kennedy International Airport in New York.
“I love dogs more than you can imagine ... and I also get the risk and the health concerns," Quigley said. "But once these dogs have landed, even if we didn’t create the problem we shouldn’t make it a lot worse by sending them back.”
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta
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