A judge on Monday delayed a ruling that would dismiss animal cruelty charges in a goat hoarding case that left nearly 100 goats in the state’s care and dozens more dead, according to a release from Attorney General William Tong.

Nancy Burton appeared in court on Monday in Danbury, where she was expected to be granted a diversionary program in the form of 30 days of accelerated rehabilitation. After that, she would be allowed to own animals again, court records show.

Burton is facing over 60 animal cruelty charges for allegedly hoarding goats in neglectful conditions, but a motion recently filed in the appellate court showed that she was being offered the accelerated rehabilitation program — meaning those charges could be dropped.

The offer drove concerned neighbors, animal advocates and town officials in Redding to speak out.

Judge Maximino Medina agreed in court to hear further input regarding the rehabilitation for Burton.

“I am pleased and encouraged that the State’s Attorney advocated for, and Judge Medina granted, the state the opportunity to make a statement on this matter in court on May 14,” Tong said in a statement on Monday.

“As a state, we must continue to take egregious animal abuse cases like this one seriously and impose meaningful sentences that will deter animal abusers from ever owning animals again,” he added.

Tong said he plans to comment further on the case next month.

Burton faces more than 60 charges of animal cruelty after investigators found about 65 goats — many of which were pregnant — living on a property she owned in Redding in 2021.

About 40 to 50 more dead goats were also found on the property, either in plastic bags, underneath a tarp, inside trash containers or partially buried, court records show.

Burton was also charged with obstructing an animal control officer after a goat that wandered off her property was struck by a car and injured.

The Attorney General’s Office, along with the Chief Animal Control officer, took control of more than 90 goats that came from Burton’s property.

The goat’s were reportedly malnourished, often roaming the neighborhood looking for food, and lived in allegedly deplorable conditions without running water.

Investigators allegedly found that many of the goats struggled to move and had to walk on different parts of their legs, because their hooves had grown so long they had begun to curl. One of their paddocks was filed nearly to the roof with manure, according to court records.

Over more than a dozen years, there were 120 individual complaints and civil citations concerning the goats at Burton’s home.

The Attorney General’s Office also has an ongoing civil case regarding permanent ownership of the neglected goats.

The state was awarded ownership of the goats, which have been adopted, in 2022 “after finding that these goats were neglected and cruelly treated including a finding that more than 40 dead goats were found on Ms. Burton’s property,” the Attorney General’s Office said.

Burton appealed that decision. Arguments were heard in the appellate court several weeks ago and the state is awaiting a decision in the case.

Burton is scheduled to appear in court next in the criminal case on May 14. Burton’s case has been pending since her arrest, and court records pertaining to her criminal case have been ordered sealed by the court.