CHICAGO RIDGE, IL -- The embattled director of a troubled animal shelter has stepped down after months of negative publicity over photos of suffering animals, public demonstrations and a raid by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Linda Estrada, the long-time executive director of Animal Welfare League of Chicago Ridge is "no longer employed" at the shelter, according to an AWL representative. Estrada was seen late Wednesday afternoon supervising the loading of her office desk on to her truck.

Word began leaking out Wednesday from inside the animal shelter that Estrada was out as director. Standing outside the building talking to employees, Estrada had no comment about her rumored departure. AWL's board of directors later issued a written statement announcing that Estrada was no longer employed at the shelter, effective immediately. Appointed as interim director of the Chicago Ridge shelter is Diane Spryka, manager of the AWL facility at 6224 S. Wabash Ave. in Chicago. The board will announce additional steps to move Animal Welfare League forward "in the near future," according to the statement. Spryka has won praise for her management of the Wabash shelter.

The unraveling of the public's trust began in January, when AWL announced that it was suspending dog adoptions and would no longer accept owner-surrendered pets and strays due to an outbreak of dog flu in the Chicago Ridge facility. Patch obtained exclusive photographs and videos showing filthy conditions inside dog-holding areas, piles of rodent droppings in isolation rooms and sick dogs lying in their own feces or bleeding out in cages. Sources familiar with the animal shelter claimed that such conditions were a regular occurrence. Other documentation provided to Patch, including advanced necropsies performed at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, indicating the presence of E. coli and mycoplasma in a deceased dog's lungs, consistent with rodent-spread diseases. The disclosure unleashed a wave of protests by animal rights advocates, including many volunteers who said they were banned for speaking out, in front of the shelter and hearings before the Village of Chicago Ridge Board.

Although AWL has consistently passed inspections by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, numerous sources have indicated that the shelter is under investigation by the Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation. In February, the shelter was raided by the DEA. Federal authorities were said to have interviewed Estrada and her staff. The DEA also reportedly examined the shelter's euthanasia paperwork and medical records, and took photographs of the shelter's drug logs. Estrada is also said to have stepped down as board president before her departure Wednesday as executive director. The board has hired an outside public relations firm specializing in crisis communications, Prescott Group LLC based in River Forest. The firm's president James Prescott would not comment on whether Estrada was fired or left on her own accord, or if her departure was tied to ongoing state and federal investigations.

"The [written] statement will be the extent of our comments at the moment. We will have more to say going forward," Prescott said going forward.

Animal rights advocate Nikki Ormsby, who's been organizing candlelight vigils in front of AWL, called the development a step in the right direction.