Fairview Heights man, woman charged with animal cruelty after deceased dogs found

The Fairview Heights Police Department is asking for help in locating a man and woman accused of abandoning their dogs, who died in a locked kennel.

According to the department’s Facebook page, the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s office has charged Amber B. Strickland, 34, and Sean M. Flynn, 49, with aggravated cruelty to animals, a Class 4 criminal felony; and cruel treatment of animals, a Class A criminal misdemeanor.

“We do have some leads and are trying to actively apprehend them,” Detective Sgt. Aaron Nyman with the Fairview Heights police department said Wednesday afternoon. “At this point, we believe they are actively evading us. I can’t really comment further because this is still under investigation.”

At approximately 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 11, an officer of the Fairview Heights police responded to the 900 block of Salem Place regarding a suspicious odor, the department’s Facebook page stated.

When officers arrived, they spoke to a property owner who was inspecting his newly vacant rental property when he noticed an unusual odor. Officers inspected the property, and upon entering the property, they observed two deceased dogs locked in a kennel.

During the investigations, police said, officers determined the dog’s owners had abandoned them when they moved out and left them alone for over a month before they were discovered. Unfortunately, the animals perished due to neglect.

A warrant has been issued for their arrest with a last known address of the 900 block of Salem Place in Fairview Heights.

Bond is set at $25,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, the suspects had not been arrested.

Nyman further explained why charges were filed this week when the initial discovery of the dogs was May 11.

“We had some more investigating to do. We had been trying to get in touch with these people for a while and they were evading us,” he said. “Once it was clear they were evading us, we put in for an out of custody warrant and submitted that to the state’s attorney’s office to review.

“They typically want to interview the subject or subjects before issuing the warrant. But once it became clear they were evading us, the state’s attorney decided to press charges.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 2:59 PM.