Animal-cruelty charges

WARREN

Prosecutors have filed three animal-cruelty charges against Tabitha Ballew, 24, of Reo Court Northwest, after police found two dead dogs and a third, thin dog alive in the cage with the dead dogs at her apartment Saturday afternoon. Ballew was not in custody Monday.

A neighbor said Ballew gave her the keys to Ballew’s apartment Friday and asked her to keep an eye on her home. The neighbor went the next day to check on Ballew’s dogs and found two dead in a cage, a third one alive in the cage and a fourth one had escaped from the apartment when the neighbor opened the door.

The neighbor said Ballew had been gone a week. Police observed clothing, feces and urine in most areas of the home. The surviving dog was taken to a location where it would receive food and medical care.