A woman and her son have pleaded not guilty in the Granite Falls animal cruelty case.

Diane Cowling and her adult son Michael were arrested after 31 cats and dogs were found starved to death in a foreclosed home in Granite Falls.

The pair voluntarily gave up three more live animals - two cats and a dog – when they were arrested at an apartment in Lake Stevens.

Diane Cowling had said she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her home went into foreclosure and no shelter would take her animals.

The two are held on $100,000 each. Trial has been set for April 1.