Abandoned Animals Taken Into Custody

New Bedford Animal Control and Police officers swept through the first floor of a North end tenement yesterday afternoon, seizing two dogs, a cat and a dead snake that had been living in a feces-covered apartment and arrested the animals' owner. 

28 year old  Krystal Hansen was taken into custody outside her North Front Street apartment and charged with three felony counts of animal cruelty. Hansen was evicted from the apartment Friday but left the animals behind, telling officers she thought a friend was coming to pick them up over the weekend.

Animal Control took the pinscher, chihuahua and cat to a veterinarian for examination and would later put them up for adoption. None of the animals appeared malnourished. Hansen is slated to be arraigned in New Bedford district court. Animal cruelty carries a maximum punishment of two years in jail or a $5,000 fine.