Animal Cruelty Arrest Results from Lockport Township Rodeo
The Will County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the recent arrest of Ezequiel Herrera (age 26) of Lockport Township regarding two counts of animal cruelty.
On 10/02/2023, detectives with the Will County Sheriff’s Office received information regarding animal abuse occurring at an unlicensed rodeo in the 400 block of Oak Avenue in Lockport Township.
A representative from the animal rights organization of SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), provided detectives with drone footage of animal abuse that occurred at the rodeo.
Detectives were provided with an 11-minute and 33-second video of drone footage which showed various acts of alleged animal cruelty.
During the rodeo event, several steers are observed to be in physical distress with injuries, while participates continue to utilize the steers for the rodeo.
The organization SHARK has provided the Will County Sheriff’s Office with drone footage of other animal abuse complaints occurring at various rodeo events located throughout Will County.
In this particular drone footage, an unknown man later identified as Ezequiel Herrea, began to utilize an electric cattle prod to shock the steers in the face and head. This was done repeatedly in an attempt to make the steers move closer to the alleyway of the door used to release the animals into the arena.
The use of the cattle prod to the face and head of the animals was done in such a manner that it was disturbing to watch.
Detectives with the Will County Sheriff’s Office later interviewed the suspect, Ezequiel Herrea, who admitted to using the cattle prod on the steers at the rodeo event.
On 11/08/2023, Detective R.J. Austin met with the Honorable Judge Art Smigielski regarding this complaint. Judge Smigielski issued a criminal complaint summons for Ezequiel Herrea on two counts of animal cruelty. Ezequiel Herrea is expected to make his first court appearance on 12/15/2023 regarding these charges.
The Will County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the SHARK organization for bringing these crimes to the attention of the Will County Sheriff’s Office. Crimes like this against animals in Will County will not be tolerated.