SOMERVILLE -- The Lincoln County District Attorney could decide this week whether a Somerville woman will face criminal charges for allegedly keeping dozens of animals in her home in what a state official described as a "horrific" case of neglect.

Norma Worley, director of the Animal Welfare Program, which is part of Maine's Department of Agriculture, said in the 26 years she has worked for the department, the scene she witnessed at Fern Clark's Somerville house was one of the worst, based primarily on the physical state of the animals.

"I guess the word I'm looking for is 'horrific,'" Worley said Monday. "Just the sight of the animals' conditions and the odor. I mean, 12 of (the dogs) had to go into emergency care right away."

State workers, with assistance from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, removed 67 dogs -- two of them dead -- four cats, and a cockatiel from the residence Saturday. The process, including transporting the animals, took the crew 19 hours, Worley said. The animals were taken to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter in Boothbay Harbor and to a facility in Portland.

Worley said the incident is being treated as a criminal investigation. She said Clark could face charges of felony aggravated cruelty.

Clark had been a licensed breeder for several years, operating under the business name Star Fire Star, Worley said. But she had not renewed her license in recent years.

"We have tried several times to get in the house, but were denied because we didn't have the evidence we needed until last week," Worley said.

Amy Moolic, a 32-year-old Dracut, Mass., woman, inadvertently provided the evidence Maine needed to obtain a search warrant.

Moolic was arrested Wednesday in Salem, N.H., with 22 dogs in her vehicle, three of them deceased. Authorities from the Salem Police Department reported that Moolic insisted she had rescued 12 of the animals from a kennel in Somerville, Maine.

It was enough, Worley said, for law enforcement and state officials to link Moolic to Clark.

Clark lives in a rural neighborhood on Hewett Road just off Route 17.

The home, which has a half-shingled addition that is almost completely exposed from the front, has a tattered couch in the front yard and multiple garbage bags piled up just off the driveway.

Of the few Hewett Road residents at their homes on Monday morning, some said they did not personally know Clark; others declined to comment.

When asked for comment, a man who answered the phone at a number listed for Clark's residence said, "I don't think that's going to happen."

No one answered the door at the residence Monday morning.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office referred all questions to state officials.

Worley said her agency will present the necessary paperwork to Lincoln County District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau by the end of this week or beginning of next week.