DA: Freeport man starved, abandoned French bulldog

A Freeport man who is an assistant high school principal in Brooklyn was arrested Friday on animal cruelty charges for allegedly abandoning his French bulldog without food 18 months ago.

Frank Hopson, 59, of South Main Street, was arrested outside the Clara Barton High School in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, said Chris Munzing, a spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney's office.

The district attorney's Animal Cruelty Unit charged Hopson with animal abandonment, cruelty and failure to provide food. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 4. If convicted, he faces up to a year in prison.

Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Education, said Hopson has been reassigned "away from the classroom," effectively immediately.

In September 2008, one of Hopson's neighbors noticed a strong odor coming from a rear window of Hopson's home. The neighbor looked in the window and saw a small, tan dog in a bathroom that was "caked in feces and urine," prosecutors said.

The neighbor contacted Rescue Ink, an animal rescue group, which then contacted the SPCA. An SPCA peace officer discovered a purebred French bulldog confined inside the first-floor bathroom. The dog was shaking, emaciated, and suffering from a bacterial infection, officials said.

The dog, later named "Freesia," was held at the Town of Hempstead animal shelter, but Hopson never retrieved it, authorities said.

Munzing wouldn't comment on why it took 18 months to arrest Hopson.

The French Bulldog Rescue Network rehabilitated Freesia, who was eventually adopted by an out-of-state family, prosecutors said.

Hopson, who police said rents the house in Freeport, didn't respond to an SPCA notice that had been posted on a door of the residence for seven months.

Hopson, who was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, was released on his own recognizance.

In February, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced formation of the Animal Cruelty Unit with an abuse hotline, which is 516-680-8624. Callers will remain anonymous.