New homes for dogs saved from squalor

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Marty Sullivan, Francine Bills and Tom Bills with their dogs Gladys Pearl and Beau. The Polish Tatra sheepdogs were rescued from a Palos Park farm, living in dire conditions. | Gary Middendorf~For Sun-Times Media

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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:04AM

Marty Sullivan and Tom Bills have provided warm homes and full bellies to two dogs that were near death just a few weeks ago.

Sullivan, of Alsip, and Bills, of Oak Lawn, each has a Polish Tatra sheepdog found in ill health, along with other animals, at a Palos Park barn in December. Rabbits, goats, and pigs also were found in inhumane conditions, police said.

Most of the animals had to be put down, officials said.

But when the men saw the dogs, it was an easy decision: Sullivan adopted the female and Bills adopted the male.

“They were in pretty bad shape. The female wasn’t as bad as the male. The male had pneumonia and Lyme disease,” Sullivan said. “Both were light in weight for what they should be. They were both around 75 pounds and should weigh around 120.”

He learned about the dogs because he’s a trainer at the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, where the dogs were taken.

“I saw the dogs, and that was it,” Sullivan said. “I saw the video, too, of when they took the dogs out and it was just terrible.”

Sullivan owns and operates the Black Dog K-9 Performance training facility in Alsip.

Dogs there are trained to work with the disabled and to serve as pets to veterans of the armed forces, Sullivan said.

The dog has been named Gladys Pearl, he said.

“My wife (Heide) picked Gladys and I’m a Janis Joplin fan so I picked Pearl,” Sullivan said. Pearl was Joplin’s nickname and the name of one of her albums.

The dog “was a little skittish at first,” Sullivan said.

“She’d look at the ceiling fan and get scared, but every day she gets a little better,” he said.

Bills said the dog he and wife Francine adopted also started out nervous but has quickly grown to enjoy being part of their family.

“He would follow me all over the house,” Bills said of the dog named Beau. “We had to feed him out of our hands at first and he had a bad cough. But he’s doing great now. He’s so playful.”

Bills said his family had adopted a dog of the same breed a few years ago, but it died just before Thanksgiving. Sullivan had known about their loss and asked whether Bills would want another one. He did.

“He loves it here. He’s so lovable. He jumps on the bed and wants to cuddle. Our other dog, Marco, a lab mix, loves him, too,” Bills said.

Bills remains surprised by the level of neglect to which the animals were subjected in that barn in the 12400 block of Wolf Road.

“I don’t understand people,” Bills said. “If you can’t take care of an animal that’s so lovable, I just don’t understand it.”

Jozef Maka, 49, of 13370 Fox Hill Drive, Lemont, had rented the barn, police said. Maka is charged with cruelty to animals, failure to get rabies shots for animals, failure to clean up feces and having unsafe living conditions, police said.

Maka is due in court on Feb. 7.