By Sharron Luttrell
and Martin Luttrell
A 24-year-old woman accused of animal cruelty in Mendon and several other towns was found guilty in Uxbridge District Court Friday of assaulting two Blackstone Valley Regional animal control officers who had seized her dogs.
Julia S. Bonner of Oxford was sentenced to two years supervised probation on six charges stemming from the Nov. 7, 2025 incident. Bonner admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding in the assault of ACO Kevin Sullivan, his wife Alisha Sullivan and ACO Susan Banner.
According to court documents, Bonner and her mother, Elizabeth M. Bonner, 56, appeared at the Blackstone Valley Regional Animal Shelter in Blackstone to request the return of their four dogs. ACOs Sullivan and Banner had taken the unlicensed dogs from 106 Millville Street in Mendon, where the Bonners were living. The officers had been called to the property multiple times since the Bonners moved there that June because of complaints that their dogs, horses, cows and other animals were loose and running in the road.
Sullivan declined to return the dogs because of unpaid fines and because the Bonners did not have a kennel license, required for the number of dogs on the property.
“When the demands were not met, she became enraged,” Worcester County Assistant District Attorney Dan Guerra said during the court proceeding.
Julia Bonner swung a can of Lysol at Banner and Kevin and Alisha Sullivan, then hit herself several times in the head with it. Kevin Sullivan said Julia Bonner tried to rip items off the walls, destroy objects in the office, and during the altercation, shouted the names of his wife and two daughters and warned that they were in danger. Sullivan restrained Julia until police arrived.
The police report describes finding Julia Bonner in an “altered mental state” and the office “a mess,” with dog food, broken ceramic containers and paper on the floor. One computer monitor was broken and another knocked over, the report states.
ACO Banner told Judge Michael P. Welsh that the shelter’s licensed therapy dog, Seamus, was in the office during the altercation, and was so frightened by the experience, that it took him several weeks to recover.
In his statement to Judge Welsh, Sullivan described the shelter as a community-centered organization with active volunteers who care for and read to the dogs, and which frequently hosts scouting groups and other visitors.
“It completely destroyed our peace of mind,” he told the judge. “It didn’t just happen to us, it happened to our community.”
In his statement, Sullivan ticked off multiple animal cruelty charges against the Bonners dating back to 2024. Among the most recent include those filed in Dudley District Court, and which on Tuesday, the Bonners admitted to sufficient facts for a finding of guilty.
Those charges stemmed from a March 18 investigation in Oxford that alleged the pair were keeping 10 young goats in an unsanitary trailer without proper food or water.
In that case, Oxford Police Officer Heather Picking was dispatched to the parking lot at Home Depot by Animal Control Officer Kelly Flynn, who had found a horse trailer parked there for at least eight hours. Inside were 10 young goats without water, grain or hay, and only minimal straw on the floor.
There was no registration plate on the trailer, but one was found inside, the report noted. The front of the trailer showed evidence of people living there, with dirty personal items and trash, according to the report.
Because the goats had no type of nourishment and no visible care, with the outside temperature predicted to fall below freezing, ACO Flynn took custody of the goats and left an animal control note tucked into the trailer’s living quarters with her contract information on it.
Kelly was subsequently informed by Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals that the Bonners were awaiting trial for animal cruelty in Milford District Court and not allowed to possess animals.
On March 20, Elizabeth and Julia Bonner went to the Oxford police station to file a complaint against Flynn, alleging that she had damaged the trailer and unlawfully confiscated the animals. Officer Daniel Ausmus noted in a report that the trailer was dilapidated, with broken windows, and doors secured with bungee cords and cell phone charging cords.
The younger Bonner told Officer Ausmus that there were outstanding charges, but that she was unaware of a court order prohibiting the pair from having animals. She also stated that they had permission from Home Depot to park the trailer there. The officer checked with the probation office at Milford District Court and was told of the pretrial probation order that they not have contact with any animals. A check with the store showed that no permission was granted for the trailer to be left there.
Dudley District Court Judge Andrew J. Abdella continuing the case without a finding for one year. Conditions include a mental health evaluation and aftercare for Julia Bonner. The judge further prohibited both Julia and Elizabeth from “breeding, working with, residing with, training, volunteering, rescuing or fostering animals,” and a no-contact order for animal control officers or members of the MSPCA.
“There have been non-stop issues,” Sullivan told Judge Welsh on Friday. “I’m asking the court to please hold her accountable.”
Julia Bonner’s attorney described the Nov. 7 assault charges as stemming from a “mental health crisis that was not being addressed.”
Guerra, who had sought a sentence of up to 2½ years on the 10 charges filed in that incident, asked Judge Welsh to weigh the number and scope of animal cruelty charges, including those in other jurisdictions, in his decision.
“This is one cog that makes up a larger machine,” Guerra said. “The underpinning of this stems from animal cruelty.”
In addition to supervised probation, Judge Welsh ordered Julia Bonner to not have contact with Kevin and Alisha Sullivan, Susan Banner or anyone else at the Blackstone Valley Regional Animal Shelter.
The Bonners are due in Milford District Court Sept. 10, where they are charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty. Those charges resulted from an MSPCA investigation in which the organization seized four dogs, four horses, three birds, six goats and two zebu (a south Asian breed of cattle) after finding evidence of neglect and lack of feed and care at the Millville Street property in Mendon. A similar case is pending in Attleboro district court.
