A Montgomery County foreign language teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to five counts of cruelty to animals for failing to provide proper care after 28 dogs were removed from her Clarksburg home in January after several visits by police.

Maria A. Yordan-Torres, 53, has taught at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring since 1986. On Thursday, she stood silent as Assistant State’s Attorney Cory Birdsall told District Court Judge Mary Beth McCormick that animal control officers visited Yordan-Torres’ home several times in 2005 and told her to improve unsanitary boarding conditions for the Coton de Tulear dogs she was breeding.

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