LITTLE SILVER — The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office has offered the option of community service as part of a plea deal for a Little Silver woman charged with animal cruelty.
Gretchen Rell was charged by the prosecutor’s office with two counts of third-degree animal cruelty in May 12 indictment.
According to her attorney, Dennis J. Melofchik, Rell pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Melofchik said there is currently a scheduled plea conference on July 14 before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John Tassini in reference to the possibility of entering a plea.
Charles Webster, public information officer for the prosecutor’s office, said the plea deal being offered to Rell is a probationary term and community service to be determined by the judge.
The agreement would also require Rell to receive mental health assessment and comply with the results of the treatment and evaluation recommended.
In addition, Rell would be barred from contact with the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), where she had been a volunteer rehabilitator.
The agreement also would bar her from owning, having custody of or residing — temporarily or otherwise — with any animals for the rest of her life.
“What happens on July 14 is everyone will talk about the plea, and Rell will either accept or deny it. If she denies it, then you will see a trial date set up,” Webster said.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Little Silver police were dispatched to 15 Mitchell Place in Little Silver where, in conjunction with investigators from the SPCA, more than 300 dead animals were discovered.
These included various types of birds, turtles, rabbits, mice, opossums and other mammals that could not be identified due to the extent of decomposition, authorities said.
A joint investigation by Little Silver police and SPCA investigators revealed that between January 2013 and March 2014, Rell, a volunteer in the wildlife division of the SPCA, allegedly took in numerous animals for the purpose of temporary rehabilitation.