Arraigned in cruelty case
WARREN
Tabitha Ballew, 24, of Reo Court Northwest turned herself in to police Monday afternoon and was arraigned Tuesday on three counts of animal cruelty.
She pleaded not guilty and remains in the Trumbull County jail in lieu of $7,500 bond in Warren Municipal Court.
She was charged after police found two dead dogs and a third, thin dog alive in the cage with the dead dogs at her apartment Saturday afternoon.
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 and a third one alive in the cage. 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.