Woman pleads guilty to animal cruelty after leaving dogs, cats in closed camper at Holter Lake

A woman who left two dogs and three cats inside a camper trailer without water for more than nine hours at the Log Gulch Campground on Holter Lake last September pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of animal cruelty.

Sarah Josephine Adam pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count and one felony count of cruelty to animals Thursday before Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley.

According to her statements in court Thursday and court documents filed in the case, a man who had been camping and fishing in view of the trailer on Sept. 10, 2025, called a county sheriff’s deputy to the campground around 4 p.m. that day saying they had heard a dog whimpering inside the trailer and had seen a dog break out a window trying to get air.

The high temperature that day was 82 degrees. A deputy came over from Lincoln, arriving around 5:15 p.m., and finding the trailer and a car parked next to it, both with Washington plates. The vehicle came back registered to Sarah Adam and Kenneth Joseph Adam.

The witness said the two had left the campground around 11 a.m. and that his trailer had been too hot for him to be inside of even with all the windows, doors and a roof vent open.

The deputy could not get ahold of the Adams so they stuck around, giving the two dogs — a husky-like dog and a Labrador-hound mix — several bottles of water as they kept sticking their snouts out of the broken window. The deputy also saw three cats inside.

The deputy saw animal feces and urine inside the trailer and no food or water, according to an arrest affidavit.

After the deputy waited around for more than three hours, the Adams finally arrived back at their campsite around 8:30 p.m., saying they had gone to Belgrade to go pick up mail but also stopped by the library in Helena on their way back.

Kenneth Adam allegedly said the two had been thinking about trying to rehome the dogs because of their living situation and also that the dogs had broken the trailer window out previously. He allegedly told the deputy they had forgotten to open the windows or give the animals water before leaving.

Seeley asked Sarah Adam in court Thursday to confirm that it was “pretty warm that day.”

“I think so, but I get cold a lot,” she responded.

Sarah Adam is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16. The misdemeanor count carries up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The felony includes a fine of up to $2,500 and a potential Department of Corrections term of up to two years.

As part of her plea deal, Adam can withdraw her plea if Seeley imposes a sentence harsher than prosecutors’ recommendation.