ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Shania Wells was back in court Wednesday on allegations that she again mistreated animals, some of which reportedly died.

Wells’ request for bond was denied.

Wells was convicted of multiple counts of cruelty to animals after pleading no contest in mid-April and was sentenced in May before Belmont County Western Division Court Judge Eric Costine.

More recently, according to Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Vavra, it is alleged that abused animals were found on property where Wells was residing.

“A search warrant was executed at her home on Jan. 9,” he said. “One dead dog, two dogs in pretty poor condition and two dead calves were found out there recently.”

Wells faces two second-degree misdemeanor charges and three fifth-degree felony charges as a result. She is being held without bond at the Belmont County Jail.

Wells, 22, of 59615 Chestnut Level Road, Belmont had pleaded no contest to 10 counts of cruelty to animals, a second-degree misdemeanor. Those charges stemmed from an incident in December 2018, when deputies were called to Wells’ property and reportedly found dead and mistreated animals there. As part of the sentence that resulted, Wells was ordered not to own animals and not to be in a residence with an animal for five years.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Wells faced similar charges in 2017 and was allowed to complete a diversion program and have the charges dismissed. According to Ohio Revised Code, a prosecutor may establish a pretrial diversion program for a defendant they believe is not likely to offend again. Such a program usually involves a period of supervision and may require payment of a fee.

“You were sentenced to 900 days of incarceration. All of that was suspended except for 90 days that you did serve. This motion is seeking to impose the days you did not serve, the balance of that time being 810 days of incarceration,” Costine said Wednesday when Wells had a hearing via video conference from the jail.

Wells pleaded innocent to the offenses and denied the probation violations.

Costine scheduled another hearing at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday to review evidence of probation violations.

Wells asked to be released from jail.

“My family has been working for months since my husband passed away in September of 2019 to get me into a mental rehabilitation center. I am approved for two different houses if you will allow me to go with them. They are open houses, and I will still appear in court with my counsel,” she said.

“On the probation violations, the court is going to set no bond,” Costine replied. “The defendant to be remanded, pending hearings. Next time to modify bond would be Jan. 28.”

According to Western Court, Wells’ mother, Kellie Wells of the same address, is set to appear in court Feb. 6 for arraignment. She is likewise changed with two second-degree misdemeanors and three fifth-degree felonies, all related to animal cruelty.

“Her mother is charged with the same criminal offenses,” Vavra said. “For the same animals.”

Julie Larish of the humane organization Belmont County Hoof & Paw said her organization conducted the initial investigation Jan. 9.

“We were the ones that took the initial call,” she said, adding that members heard reports of calves and dogs in apparent poor condition on the property. “(The callers) were afraid that something happened to the calves, and they saw that the dogs weren’t being very active.

“We knocked on the door, saw … two of the dogs outside and noticed they were thin. From there we obtained a search warrant,” she said. “We did find the two dogs in very poor shape, extremely underweight, extremely dehydrated. We also found a deceased dog and two deceased cows.”

Larish said the surviving dogs are in recovery.

“Both are going to need extensive medical care for a while, but they are recovering,” she said.