Felony Charges Unlikely in Edmonds Animal Cruelty Case, Prosecutors Say

Rose Adams pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in Edmonds Municipal Court Wednesday, May 22, and despite the push of protestors to see felony charges filed in the case, prosecutors say that is unlikely.

The Edmonds Police Department sent evidence in its case alleging that Adams mistreated animals in her care to the Snohomish County Prosecutors Office for review earlier this week, and today the Prosecutors Office told Patch it has sent the case back to the City Prosecutors, who handle only misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases.

Despite vocal protests and a Change.org petition with more than 18,000 supporters from around the globe, the Police Department has stated that there likely wasn't evidence in the case that would warrant felony charges.

"We’re committed to prosecuting this according to the law," said Edmonds Chief of Police Al Compaan, noting that Edmonds' code mirrors the state's. Felony cruelty charges would generally involve people having sex with animals or killing them in an inhumane way, for example.

"To put it in perspective, domestic violence assaults are gross misdemeanors," Compaan said. "I can look at anybody and say we’re doing everything we can." 

Both Edmonds Police and Edmonds Animal Control Police Officers have said they intend to do whatever possible to keep the two dogs who required veterinary care for their injuries from being returned to Adams, but they said it's unlikely she will voluntarily relinquish the animals.

George Beutler, who lives at the home with Adams and is shown in some of the videos showing the alleged abuse, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing George June 5th at 8:30 a.m.