A lawyer for a Pennsylvania woman accused of animal cruelty says there are no laws stating "you can't pierce or dock a cat's tail."

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Prosecutors said Holly Crawford of Ross Township is facing six animal cruelty counts for piercing the ears of three black kittens with a 14-gauge needle and bobbing two cats' tails to sell the animals on eBay as "gothic kittens," the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Citizens' Voice reported Tuesday.

John Pike, Crawford's attorney, said the case is likely to result in additions to the state's animal cruelty laws because "there's nothing that says anything about you can't pierce or dock a cat's tail."

"It's going to further define the statute," Pike said.

Pike and co-counsel Robert Buttner filed a motion to dismiss the case because the piercings and tail dockings were done for aesthetic purposes and not to cause pain to the animals. The motion was rejected.