Jorge Tavarez, 45, is charged with animal cruelty. Bail was set at $100,000. View Full Caption DNAinfo; Cook County Sheriff's Office

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Belmont Cragin man has been charged with animal cruelty after his Rottweiler died of hypothermia last month.

Authorities believe the pup was left outside in the 2200 block of North Leamington Avenue for at least four hours the morning of Dec. 8. It was roughly 1.5 to 3.6 degrees at the time, prosecutors said.

The female dog was in "extreme pain," could not move and was foaming at the mouth, Assistant State's Attorney Erin Antonietti said at a bond hearing Thursday. The dog had had a seizure and was whining.

When a neighbor called the dog's name, prosecutors said, she could only lift her head slightly.

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A veterinarian who later treated the Rottweiler was unable to take the dog's temperature due to "the extreme cold," Antonietti said. The pup died at the veterinarian's office, and a necropsy revealed her cause of death to be hypothermia.

According to court records, owner Jorge Tavarez, 45, was charged with a misdemeanor last month. Prosecutors upgraded charges to felony aggravated cruelty to animals this week after they received necropsy results.

Defense attorney Vincent A. Luisi Jr. in court Thursday said the dog was normally kept in a heated room.

"This was a tragedy," he said, "not an intentional act."

According to Luisi, Tavarez works as a baker; he has two children and three grandchildren.

Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil on Thursday ordered Tavarez held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Last year, the Chicago Police Department issued 27 tickets to pet owners who failed to "provide adequate shelter for any animal in the person's care or custody with proper food, water, air or sanitary shelter" from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15.

Those who leave pets outside in freezing weather could face fines ranging from $300 to $1,000 per offense, the city said.

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