A former Wasilla area day care operator faces charges of animal cruelty for the deaths of two horses.

Deborah Michelle Nardini, 32, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in District Court in Palmer.

According to an affidavit filed by Alaska State Trooper Heidi Anderson, Nardini bought two horses in October 2005. One, an Appaloosa mare, was underweight at the time. The other, a 3-year-old draft horse, was in good condition, Anderson wrote.

According to Anderson's affidavit, Nardini's boyfriend, Gary Fank, said the couple cut back on feed for the horses over the winter to save money.

The couple purchased less than one round bale a month for the horses, which is typically only enough to sustain two horses for about 10 days, the trooper wrote. The affidavit also states that Nardini knew about organizations that could help her with the horses, but she did not try to contact them.

In January 2006, the Appaloosa mare went down and Fank shot it, giving the remains to a local musher, according to the affidavit. Then in March the other horse went down and could not get up. The horse was rescued, but died five days later. A veterinarian did a necropsy and found no fat around the horse's heart and other organs, the document states.

In addition to the criminal charges, Nardini lost her state license to operate the M and M's Playhouse day care because of concerns about upkeep at the facility. Nardini appealed that decision, but she recently reached a settlement with the state that forbids her from reapplying for a license for at least three years and sets terms should she reapply.

Update 4/20/06 - Information about Day Care Licencing problems for Nardini: State officials have revoked the license of a Wasilla day-care provider after complaints about the treatment of horses on the property and because of concerns about the care being given children there.

Marcey Bish, who heads the state's child care licensing program, said the state revoked the license of MandM's Playhouse, owned by Deborah Michelle Nardini at 1025 Vicki Way. The state had previously suspended the facility's license in mid-March.

Bish said the state has had numerous problems with the facility since it was first licensed in 2001.

Those problems were detailed in an 11-page report given to Nardini. It included inadequate record-keeping, not keeping a clean facility, and, at one point, letting children have access to a play area that included a cement mixer and broken-down vehicles overflowing with garbage.

More recently, during a visit in March, officials found no toilet paper in the bathroom, a burn barrel overflowing with soiled diapers, a blocked emergency exit window and a back door that led onto a porch with a large hole and protruding nails.

Nardini corrected problems in the past and no children were ever reported harmed, but problems continued to crop up, Bish said. There was a pattern, she said.  "We don't want to say this provider is a bad person," Bish said. "But she displays some behaviors we just can't continue to condone."

Nardini, reached by phone, declined to comment.  "I have nothing to say," she said.

Nardini's facility came under scrutiny in part because of the deaths of two horses in her care.

The division suspended Nardini's license in March after receiving two complaints questioning the environment in which the children were being kept.

The day-care facility is one of about 750 statewide overseen by the division, she said.

Under her license, Nardini was allowed to care for up to 10 children at a time, Bish said. She said Nardini has until April 28 to appeal the decision to revoke her license.

Reference:

Anchorage Daily News