By VICKI URBANIK

The Porter County Commissioners this morning hired the assistant director of Lake County’s animal shelter to take the reins of this county’s troubled shelter, while completely disbanding the 15-member board that has overseen the shelter operations.

Judy Bonaventura of Cedar Lake will assume her duties as Porter County Animal Shelter Director this Monday. Her pay will be $37,802, which was the amount paid to the previous directors this year.

Her hiring culminates several months of turmoil at the animal shelter. Former shelter director Sandy Ogle resigned in February, following an animal neglect case that involved the euthanization of a emaciated horse in the care of a former animal welfare board member. Then Ogle’s successor, Jennifer Pierce, resigned last week, citing conflicts with the animal board. The commissioners then repealed virtually all of the board’s authority, bringing the department under their direct supervision.

This morning, the three commissioners expressed hope the shelter is now getting back on track.

“We’ll get through this rough road and we’ll all be much better for it,” said North Porter County Commissioner John Evans.

Commissioner President Robert Harper said the shelter will continue its animal control functions, noting that animal control officers must often deal with dangerous animals and that they must keep public safety a top priority. But he also expressed hope that Bonaventura will bring to Porter County some of the ideas and programs she helped develop in Lake County, citing in particular a program in which feral cats are neutered and sent to farms instead of being euthanized.

Lake County’s animal shelter has been brought under the control of the sheriff’s department and has become a no-kill shelter.

Among the programs that Bonaventura helped develop, according to her resume, are a national placement program for dogs, a trap and release program for feral cats, an intake inoculation program, low-cost spay and neuter programs and a low-cost vaccination program.

In addition, she has developed a fighting-dog rehabilitation program aimed at teaching dogs that fighting is unacceptable behavior. Another program is a rescue coordination system involving law enforcement that removes animals involved in dog fighting and cock fighting.

Harper said of the seven applicants received, Bonaventura stood out due to her hands-on experience. He also noted that the commissioners toured the Lake County shelter, formally known as the Lake County Animal Control and Adoption Center.

In addition to hiring a new shelter director, Harper and South County Commissioner Carole Knoblock approved a motion by Evans to disband the Porter County Animal Welfare Board. Evans first called for disbanding this board last week and starting from scratch.

Both Harper and Evans said the new advisory board that will be formed will not have as many as 15 members. Evans said one of the problems at the shelter was that its board was so large, since it’s very difficult for 15 people to reach a consensus.

Both also expressed hope that the new board will serve largely in a fundraising capacity, partially to raise money for renovations to the current animal shelter. Harper noted that the Memorial Opera House also has an advisory board that functions as a fundraising arm, and he suggested that one day, the shelter could be replaced with a larger facility.

Evans said he expects that a new board will be in place in one or two months.

In attendance at this morning’s meeting was Liberty Township resident Glenn Wiles, who, up until this morning, served on the animal welfare board. He also serves on the Porter County Wildlife Management Advisory Board.

Wiles commended the commissioners’ action, saying that the changes at the animal shelter are “long overdue.”

He said that when he was first appointed to the animal board two years ago, he saw the conflicts between veteran members, who were resistant to change, and new board members, who wanted changes very quickly. Then, when a new board president was named this year, that just added “gas to the fire,” he said.

For Wiles, the shake-up at the animal shelter reminded him of another shake-up that he was involved with two years ago. Personality conflicts among the 15 or so members of the Wildlife Management Advisory Board prompted the commissioners to disband that board and form a new board, which now has five members. Wiles said that ever since then, the wildlife board has been functioning very well.

As for Bonaventura, Wiles said he hasn’t met her, but that some of the programs she developed in Lake County are needed here.

Posted 5/15/2008