A 29-year-old rural Hudson woman who ran a troubled animal rescue has been criminally charged with three misdemeanors, accusing her of mistreating dogs and at least one cat.
Erika F. Horton ran Top Paw Rescue in rural Hudson. McLean County Animal Control seized animals at Top Paw on March 16 after issuing a Notice of Impoundment, WGLT previously reported. The seizure notice cited allegations of animal hoarding and “humane care and treatment violations.”
Authorities have been investigating Top Paw in the months since. Horton was charged May 19 with three counts of failure to perform an owner’s duties, a Class B misdemeanor that’s part of the state’s Humane Care for Animals Act.
An arrest warrant was issued for Horton on Monday, with a $5,000 bond. She was due in court Monday for an unscheduled appearance, court records show. Horton posted bond and was released Friday, jail officials said.
Horton had a “large number” of dogs and “failed to provide each of her companion animals humane care and treatment as required,” prosecutors said in their charges. The animals were kept “in a severely overcrowded environment” and Horton “displayed an inability to recognize or understand the nature of conditions under which the companion animals were living and the deleterious impact they had on the companion animals’ and owner’s health and well-being,” the charges said.
Horton was also accused of not providing “sufficient quantity of good quality, wholesome food and water” for a dog, and that she failed to provide “humane care and treatment” for a cat.
Top Paw, which opened in 2022, was a licensed animal shelter through the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Top Paw is no longer listed on the department’s list of active licensees.
It’s unclear how many dogs were seized in March or what condition they were in. Other animal shelters in McLean County told WGLT in March that they were doing what they could to help.
Horton responded to WGLT's request for comment about the case Saturday afternoon with a brief email that included three pictures of the inside of a house:
"The house is being remodeled and it’s been a lot of fun. On the case I have nothing to say," Horton said in the email. It's unclear if she has an attorney.
