2 Women Face Animal Cruelty Charges

Prosecutors filed four felony counts of animal cruelty Friday against two Rancho Cucamonga women in whose homes authorities found more than two dozen dogs in deplorable conditions.

Patricia Fraus, 64, and Jacqi Killeen, 48, could each face up to three years in state prison if convicted of the charges, San Bernardino County Supervising Deputy Dist. Atty. Clark Hanson said.

In an April 12 raid, officers with the Inland Valley Humane Society found 24 live and four dead St. Bernards at Fraus’ house on South Vineyard Avenue. Fraus said she ran a St. Bernard rescue operation and had not gotten around to burying the dead dogs because she suffered from depression.

She contended that she took the dogs to a Norco veterinarian and insisted they were not neglected. Fraus hired a lawyer and said she planned to fight the charges.

Her home was littered with dog hair and feces and reeked of urine. Code enforcement officers declared it uninhabitable.

Most of the St. Bernards are still being held at the humane society. They are not available for adoption because Fraus has not released them and they might be needed as evidence, Brian Sampson, supervisor of animal services, said Friday.

Officers seized three more dogs at Killeen’s home the day after they raided Fraus’ house. Those dogs also are still at the humane society.

Hanson said Killeen and Fraus were equally accountable for the conditions in Fraus’ home because they were both involved in the rescue operation. The charges stem from the raid on Fraus’ home, not Killeen’s, he said.

Animal cruelty charges can be filed as misdemeanors or felonies. Hanson said felony animal cruelty charges are relatively rare, but, given the conditions at Fraus’ home, are warranted in this case.

“This was not misdemeanor conduct,” Hanson said.

No charges have been filed yet against Donna Giello, whose home was raided May 9. She lives around the corner from Fraus. Forty of her dogs were seized. Sampson said six to eight of them have been euthanized because they were too vicious to be adopted. The remainder are still at the humane society and have not been released for adoption.

Fraus and Killeen are scheduled to be arraigned July 16.