SOMERVILLE -- The woman charged with five felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty said Wednesday she kept her dogs in clean cages and the warrant used to seize her animals was not properly served.

Fern Clark, 78, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, will be in Superior Court in Bath today for a hearing on motions related to her case.

She said state officials did not give her notice that they were going to enter her Hewitt Road home when they conducted a raid in January and seized 66 dogs, four cats and a bird.

"I did not receive the warrant in my hands when they come to take my dogs," she said, as she sat Wednesday at her kitchen table. "I was not at home. I had cleaned all the dogs, gave them food and water."

Clark, who declined previous interview requests, said those who conducted the raid also took personal items from her home.

"They went into my room, stole my digital camera, took all the phone books and weekly planners, and left it a mess," she said.

Animal-welfare officials got a warrant to search the home after a Massachusetts woman who said she took animals from Clark's home was pulled over in New Hampshire.

The woman was found to have 22 dogs in her car. Two were dead. She told police she "saved" 10 dogs from Clark's home.

Clark said Amy Moolic of Dracut, Mass., took nine dogs and was supposed to place them in good homes. The dogs that were found dead did not come from her kennel, she said.

She said she wants to get her animals back after the court proceedings are concluded.

"I got dogs I love very much and I hope they don't hurt any one of them," she said.

Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright, who is handling the case, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said many of the issues raised by Clark will be decided by a judge.

"The judge is going to be asked whether there was legal basis to take the animals into custody," he said.

Whether a person must be physically present for authorities to conduct a search depends on the circumstance, he said.

Clark, who said she's had dogs for 35 years, also disputes accounts provided by two women who say they entered her home in February 2005 and found an "eye-watering" odor in the home and a floor "slick with feces and urine."

Clark said she never allowed the two women in the upstairs of her home where the animals are housed.

Further, she said any odor in the home can be attributed to flea spray, bleach and "odor ban" that's used to control smells. She said well-worn spots on her linoleum floor could be mistaken for feces.

On Tuesday, Clark showed the cages where some of the dogs were kept.

In one room, Clark housed 19 dogs in cages stacked along the walls. She said the cages -- which she described as 2 feet by 4 feet, 2 feet by 3 feet and 2 feet by 2 feet -- were more than adequate for the small dogs she kept in her home. She said most of the dogs were Chihuahuas and Shih Tzus.

"I'm going to fight them every step of the way, even if I have to take it to federal court and the Supreme Court in Washington D.C.," she said.

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com