Famed U-Haul Dogs Case Set for Trial Thursday

Friends of Bonnie Sheehan, the embattled former Long Beach dog rescue operator facing Tennessee charges of animal endangerment for driving with more than 100 dogs crated in a U-Haul and towed SUV, said her trial begins Thursday.

, Sheehan's longtime rescue volunteer and passenger in the U-Haul truck, is also facing a trial start date Thursday on the same counts, which could earn both women a maximum of two years if convicted. They were arrested on a Memphis-area highway in January after the discovery of the crated dogs.

who has been staying in Long Beach with friends, has since gone to Virginia, where McCracken now lives, to prepare for the trial, at which they face 15 counts each of animal endangerment, said a friend;  she was among three or four who traveled cross country to be in court with the Hearts for Hounds dog rescuers.

A Long Beach veterinarian who has treated abandoned dogs in Sheehan's care is said to be a planned witness in the trial. A Sheehan friend said the Memphis area prosecutor handling the animal endangerment case was denied a request earlier this week to have a judge delay the trial start.

Neither Sheehan's attorney nor the prosecutor could immediately be reached for comment.

For more on the case, click here.