Hi-Tor President Rejects Plea Deal: Report

NEW CITY, NY — Hi-Tor Animal Center President Debbie DiBernardo is accused of taking in 17 kittens from New Jersey and listing them as coming from New York.

She's facing a felony charge as well as 17 misdemeanor charges — one for each kitten —because, prosecutors allege, she wrote the false origins on a voucher filed with the county.

And she's going to trial, because she turned down an offer from the Rockland County Attorney's Office to drop the felony charge and 16 of the misdemeanor charges if she would tell them about criminal activity at the shelter.

Her lawyer told The Journal News she had no information about criminal activity at Hi-Tor. "The proffer is not applicable to us as part of a plea bargain. I would suspect any criminal activity would be indicted," Gerard Damiani told reporter Steve Lieberman.

The Hi-Tor Animal Care Center in Pomona annually takes in about 2,000 animals, consisting of mainly cats and dogs, but also small animals such as rabbits and birds. The county's only no-kill animal shelter, it has had struggles for years, including with space, money and management, in a facility basically unchanged since 1972.

The Rockland County District Attorney's Office executed a search warrant in August and charged DiBernardo four months later. In between, shelter and county officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking on a planned $8.3 million new shelter.

• Rockland Holds Ceremonial Groundbreaking For New Animal Shelter
• Hi-Tor President Accused Of Felonies Over Shelter Operations