The Des Plaines man arrested for cruelty after witnesses reported seeing him punching a small dog in front of his residence on June 7 was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Thursday, the Daily Herald reported. James Robert Wesolaski, 51, was also prohibited from owning animals for 20 years by the court.

The dog Wesolaski hit, according to the police report, a nine-year-old Lhasa Apso named Teddy, and two other small dogs at the residence were taken into custody by police. All three dogs have been offered for adoption through a nonprofit rescue organization that specializes in small dogs, Chris’ Rescue Angels, based in Missouri.

One of the dogs, a Yorkshire Terrier named Oliver, has been adopted, said Pam Toppel, a local board member for the small, national nonprofit organization. An adoption applicant has expressed interest in one or both of the other dogs, but nothing has been finalized yet, she said.

“[Teddy] is sweet, loving, wants to be by whatever people are around,” Toppel said. “I don’t think there’s a mean bone in any of these dogs’ bodies; they’re very, very sweet. For what they’ve been through I can’t believe there’s no aggression.”

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Toppel said her organization brings dogs available for adoption to the Petco in Norridge once a month. On Sunday she and other volunteers will bring Teddy, Gizmo and several other dogs to the store for a meet-and-greet with potential adopters.

About 10 to 15 of the 25 to 30 dogs Chris’ Angels has available for adoption are located in the Chicago area. Toppel said she was thankful for those people who reported the incident, especially because much abuse goes unreported.

“There’s nobody to speak for those that can’t speak for themselves, so we need to do that,” Toppel said. “So we really appreciate that; it takes a lot for somebody to come forward sometimes.”

For pictures and more information about dogs available for adoption, visit Chris’ Angels website.

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