ANACONDA (AP) -- One dog ate two of its puppies while another was too starved to fight off a fatal lung infection, veterinarians testified Thursday during the Justice Court retrial of an Alaska couple facing 180 counts of animal cruelty.

''I wouldn't drive my dog across the street in that vehicle," said Dave Pauli, Humane Society regional director. He helped treat the animals at an impromptu clinic in Shelby, where they were taken after the dogs and cats were seized.

Defendant Athena Lethcoe-Harman also admitted neglecting the animals for three days, a veterinarian testified.

The testimony apparently surprised Lethcoe-Harman and her attorney, who asked witness Hardee Clark why he did not testify about the confession at the couple's first trial in Shelby.

Clark said he was never asked.

Lethcoe-Harman and her husband, Jon Harman, were charged with 181 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, but one count was later dropped. The couple were moving with the animals -- mostly collie dogs -- from Alaska to Arizona when they were stopped Oct. 31. crossing into Montana from Canada at the Port of Sweet Grass.

''The trick was to keep the urine from spilling down on you as you were unloading the kennels," said Kelly Manzer, the first veterinarian on the scene in Shelby. ''My assistant got it dumped in her hair."

Manzer said volunteers dealt with the trailer's stench by dabbing eucalyptus-scented cough syrup under their noses.

She said the first dog she treated was a 6-week-old puppy who was lethargic from dehydration. Manzer said fluid had to be injected under the puppy's skin because it would no longer drink.

Manzer said another dog was lactating, although it appeared too thin to be pregnant.

''I went looking for the puppies in the trailer," she said. ''Then I figured they had died somewhere along the way."

Clark said the dog gave birth the night it arrived at the Marias Valley Fairgrounds and, because of stress or hunger, ate two of its puppies. Clark said he has rarely seen such behavior in dogs.

Clark said an autopsy of one dog showed it died of pneumonia and starvation.

Pauli of the Humane Society estimated 60 dogs could be humanely transported in the Harmans' truck. Besides the dogs, 10 cats were removed from the vehicle.