A former member of the Porter County Animal Welfare Board has been charged after an animal control officer reported finding on her property in Porter Township a number of malnourished animals in her care.

Bonnie J. Frye, 49, of 361W 400S, has been charged with 10 counts of neglect of a vertebrate animal, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a term of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, Porter County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Adam Burroughs told the Chesterton Tribune today.

On Jan. 31, Burroughs said, Animal Control Officer Jennifer Pierce was dispatched to Frye’s property after Frye reported a horse’s being down. In her probable cause affidavit, Pierce stated that she found an adult red and white miniature horse named Rusty in eight inches of fecal matter in a fenced ungated pen. Rusty had been “denied food and water despite the immediate availability of both products,” Pierce further stated. Officers were forced to remove a section of the fence in order to treat Rusty, Pierce added, but ultimately the horse had to be euthanized.

Nine other animals were also found malnourished, Burroughs said: four miniature horses, three goats, and two miniature donkeys.

Frye resigned her seat on the Animal Welfare Board on Feb. 1.

Meanwhile, Burroughs said, he is still reviewing possible charges against the former director of the Porter County Animal Shelter, Sandy Ogle, who resigned on Feb. 7 after 15 years in the position. Burroughs said that Ogle had prior knowledge of the conditions of the animals in Frye’s care. “She knew these animals were in bad shape and she did nothing, nothing, to change it.”

Posted 2/22/2008