JUDGE DISMISSES CRUELTY CHARGES.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A judge has dismissed felony animal cruelty charges against a professional dog handler from Saugus who was involved a fiery camper van crash that killed 23 Shetland sheep dogs.

Judge Steve Ogden did not hold 48-year-old Dorothea Adkins to answer on the two felony counts, saying she lacked specific intent to commit the crime, prosecutors said.

``She had to have intent to be cruel to the animals in order to be guilty,'' Deputy District Attorney Kelly Cromer said. ``He said she did not have specific intent.''

Cromer said she believed Ogden's ruling on Wednesday was wrong and said she will seek advice from the District Attorney's Office appellate department on what to do next. Options include appealing Ogden's decision or refiling the charges and having another judge preside over the preliminary hearing.

``He's wrong, and we are not going to let it rest like that. This is clearly cruelty to animals. It's on the gross negligence or criminal negligence theory,'' Cromer said.

Adkins was held to answer on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. She is free on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear next month for a trial setting.

Adkins' attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, said the crash was an accident, not a case of animal cruelty.

``The animal cruelty statutes require that a person intentionally do harm to the animal, or intentionally put animals in a place where they can be harmed,'' Flanagan said. ``This was an accident. Anything that happens as a result of an accident is not a criminal offense.''

Cromer, who like Adkins is a dog breeder and dog shower, has ``a different agenda'' and is ``a little bit emotionally involved,'' Flanagan said.

The California Highway Patrol requested a filing of a misdemeanor driving under the influence, and not animal cruelty charges, Flanagan said.

Of the 23 dogs killed, 16 belonged to Adkins, Flanagan said.

Adkins was returning to her home from a dog show in Las Vegas in October, when her van crashed at Sierra Highway and Shannondale Road in Acton.

Adkins turned down a wrong road, drove into someone's driveway, and then into a ditch in a dirt field behind the house, prosecutors said. Heat from the vehicle ignited a brush fire. Adkins and one dog escaped, prosecutors said.

Cromer said Adkins refused to be tested for her blood-alcohol level but was charged with driving under the influence because of her actions, her failure of a field sobriety test, and the odor of alcohol detected by CHP officers.

Cromer said earlier the crash was not an accident because Adkins had care of the animals and chose to drive while she was under the influence.

Exhaust from Adkins' van ignited a 2-acre brush fire that spread toward nearby homes, officials said. Adkins was able to save one of the dogs and fought with sheriff's deputies to return to the burning wreckage to save the others, officials said.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, they learned that there were dogs in cages in the back of the van.