By Lisa Redmond
MediaNews
AYER — The attorney for a Shirley woman accused of animal cruelty after she passed out on train tracks before her pitbull pulled her to safety, losing a paw in the process, is hoping to get her client out of the doghouse.
In Ayer District Court on Wednesday, defense attorney Debra Dewitt, representing Christine Spain, said she plans to file a motion to dismiss the animal cruelty charge at a hearing scheduled for Jan. 25, 2013.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Laura Miller requested Judge David Cunis approve a motion to get Lilly the pitbull’s medical records from the Animal Hospital in Acton where the 8-year-old pitbull was initially taken to following the May 3 incident.
Miller said she has already received Lilly’s records from Angell Animal Medical Clinic in Boston where the dog was transported to have her leg amputated and her broken pelvis treated. Miller said she also has Spain’s medical records from that night.
Shirley police say that while walking home along the train tracks from her boyfriend’s home, Spain, 54, collapsed on the train tracks. Officials say it appears Spain was intoxicated.
The train conductor said that as he tried to slow the train, he saw the dog pull Spain off the tracks, however the train’s wheels hit the dog, slicing through her front leg and breaking her pelvis in several places, according to reports.
While a charge of obstructing a railroad has been dropped by prosecutors, Spain is still facing charges of animal cruelty and walking on a railroad track. She is scheduled for trial on April 8, 2013.
