A last-minute lawsuit filed by Saving Pets One at a Time has stalled a court order to release 28 dogs back to their Big Lake owner, who is now criminally charged with animal cruelty.

Kris Finch was supposed to have 28 of the 40 dogs returned to her by Tuesday after a judge ruled March 9 that part of a Jan. 21 search warrant seizing dozens of animals from her property was too broad.

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office was preparing to round up the 28 dogs to return to Finch Tuesday afternoon — the deadline for the court order — when SPOT’s attorney filed a lawsuit in Skagit County Superior Court placing a lien against Finch and Skagit County.

The lien asks for more than $20,000 for the costs of caring for Finch’s animals since the raid.

On Jan. 21, the Sheriff’s Office seized all but one of Finch’s dogs and two ponies from her Big Lake property after searching her house and barn. An animal control officer was concerned for the welfare of the animals, some of which were housed in small crates and others emaciated. The animals are housed with the animal rescue organization SPOT and scattered in various foster homes in the area.

After her 40 dogs and two ponies were seized, Finch petitioned Skagit County District Court to get them back. At that time, she had not been criminally charged.

After hours of testimony on both sides, Judge David Svaren said the search warrant that he issued was too broad and should not have included the barn where most of the dogs were kept. He said the dogs kept in the barn must be returned to Finch.

Since then, Finch has been charged in Skagit County Superior Court with one felony count of first-degree animal cruelty, two misdemeanor second-degree animal cruelty charges and a misdemeanor charge of transporting or confining an animal in an unsafe manner.

Sheriff’s officials said that the SPOT lawsuit puts the return of the dogs to Finch on hold.

“Until the lien is lifted, we are not going to return the dogs,” said Will Reichardt, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy.

Reichardt said the decision was based on advice from the county’s legal counsel.

“It’s a pickle,” said Finch’s lawyer, Tom Seguine. “This is now the county government disobeying the court order that requires the Sheriff’s Office to return these animals to my client.”

He said Finch should not be held responsible for any costs accrued by the county or SPOT relating to the dogs taken by an invalid search warrant.

SPOT’s attorney, Adam Karp of Bellingham, claims that the court order does not apply to SPOT, but only to the Sheriff’s Office.

Since the dogs are in SPOT’s care, for SPOT to release them, either the court will need to order SPOT directly, or Finch or the county must pay the lien on each dog.

“SPOT is perfectly willing to release the dogs once it is paid,” Karp said in an e-mail Wednesday.

No date has been set to resolve the dogs’ status.

n Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .