(La Porte, IN) - The La Porte County Small Animal Shelter is going to be renamed after the former longtime face of the shelter.   It will be called the Jane Bernard Animal Adoption Center.

In February, Bernard retired after 30 years or so as executive director of the shelter next to the fairgrounds.  The new name was approved last night by the La Porte County Commissioners at the request of Commission President Rich Mrozinski.  Bernard is credited with turning the shelter into an adoption center.  Before she took over, euthanizing animals was more of a standard practice.  

Mike Kellems applauded the decision, saying Bernard and her staff were always there when needed by the police during his more than 30-years with the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office.  “That shelter has set the standard for what community animal shelters should be like and that comes because of Jane’s leadership and the staff she surrounded herself with,” he said.  Kellems is now a police officer at the Purdue University campus near Westville.