By Gwyneth Gibby
| Posted: Friday, September 14, 2007 12:00 am
Gazette-Times reporter
The attorney representing a woman facing charges of animal abuse and neglect for running a puppy mill in North Albany has withdrawn from the case.
Attorney David Corden of Corvallis filed a motion Wednesday to withdraw as counsel to Carol Brower, who faces 88 charges of second-degree animal neglect and 13 counts of second-degree animal abuse.
On April 30, Benton County sheriff's deputies found 86 dogs, mostly papillon and Yorkshire terriers, living in squalid conditions on Brower's property.
Brower has not entered pleas on any of the charges. A plea and sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 17 was canceled.
"The defendant and I have come to an impasse on her defense in this case," Corden said in an affidavit filed with the court. Judge Locke Williams signed an order allowing Corden to withdraw. Brower has two weeks to retain a different attorney.
All of the dogs that were seized from Brower's home are being cared for in foster homes found by the Heartland Humane Society of Corvallis, according to executive director Kerry Mullin. The dogs cannot be adopted until the case is resolved.