BERNE  — One of the caretakers of animals taken from a Berne woman charged with neglect once was arrested on similar charges.

The animals, taken by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office from Linda Mellin — who was charged with eight counts of failure to provide sustenance, all misdemeanors — were brought to Camp Pinnacle, a Christian summer camp and retreat center in New Scotland.

Mellin’s court appearance has been adjourned until next Tuesday.

The camp’s equine director and maintenance worker, William Trianni, had been arrested in November 2013 following an investigation by the Bethlehem Police Department into complaints of animal cruelty and neglect at a farm on 80 Waldenmaier Road in Bethlehem. Trianni, along with Karen Burrows, who owned the farm, were each charged with eight counts of failure to provide sustenance, all misdemeanors.

According to a police report, 33 horses were found on the property, some in various stages of neglect and malnourishment. Eight of those horses were seized for further evaluation and care.

According to Commander Adam Hornick of the Bethlehem Police Department’s Patrol Division, who was on scene at the time, Trianni and Burrows both likely had their charges reduced. Court records show that Burrows pleaded to disorderly conduct, a violation, paid $3,000 restitution, and surrendered her horses. Burrows received a partial seal of her case, and it appears Trianni’s case was sealed completely.

“I did nothing wrong,” Trianni told The Enterprise. “None of the horses were mine.”

According to Trianni, he had been staying on Burrows’s property for a few months before he and Burrows were arrested.

“It was a tough situation,” he said. “We were between houses,” he added of he and his wife at the time.

Trianni said that Burrows had been in a car accident and was unable to provide for her animals. He said he did what he could to help but said he was not responsible for the animals or their care.

“I was trying to make the best of a bad situation,” he said.

Trianni started volunteering at Camp Pinnacle two years ago, and became an employee a year later. He said he told his employer about the arrest, adding he felt his employer would find out eventually because, “they have Google.”

Chief Deputy William Rice of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office said Camp Pinnacle was chosen to house the animals because the facility was able to take all of them, rather than have them be split up between different places. The organization also volunteered with no monetary compensation, said Rice.

Rice said that the Sheriff’s Office has little concern about the 2013 charges against Trianni, saying that he was just a helper at the farm, and later noted that the charges were dismissed.

The camp’s director, Stephen Flach, had undergone a background check, said Rice, and there is a waiver signed requiring the camp not to harm or destroy any of the animals.

Rice also said a veterinarian had gone to the camp to inspect the animals, and that they appeared to be improving in health.