This article was originally posted on khq.com.
SPOKANE, Wash. – A Greenacres woman is no longer facing nine felony charges for the deaths of nine squirrels that tried to scale her electric fence.
Our news partners with The Spokesman-Review report Superior Court Judge Annette Plese dismissed the animal cruelty counts against 68-year-old Mary Franks on Thursday, August 29.
Plese tossed the charges on a request from Franks’ attorney, Brendan Kidd, who argued the state couldn’t prove Franks intended to inflict substantial pain or undue suffering on the animals.
“We got down to the nuts and acorns of it over here,” Kidd said to The Spokesman. “It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.
SCRAPS initially received a complaint that Franks had left the electrocuted squirrels hanging from the fence in view of passersby in October.
Each of the nine counts of animal cruelty carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison. However, with no criminal record, Franks likely would have only faced about a year, according to Kidd.