{"id":265197,"date":"2026-04-25T01:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T01:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265197\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T01:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T01:17:12","slug":"woman-abandoned-13-malnourished-cats-after-vacating-south-austin-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265197\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman abandoned 13 malnourished cats after vacating South Austin apartment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/kwtx.com\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/kwtx.com\">AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) &#8211; <\/a> The Austin Police Department\u2019s Animal Cruelty Unit has filed 13 Class A misdemeanor charges of Cruelty to Non-Livestock Animals (Abandonment) against Nayzak Najm, 27, following an animal cruelty investigation in South Austin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Police said officers were called around 5:22 p.m. Feb. 5, 2026 to an apartment complex at 10101 S. 1st Street after a resident reported multiple malnourished cats in a neighboring unit living in unsafe, unsanitary conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">According to APD, apartment management told officers the former tenant, Najm, had moved out in mid-January after turning in her keys. The lease expired Jan. 31, and management entered the unit to begin restoration work tied to prior flooding issues when the animals were discovered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Inside, officers reported conditions consistent with a hoarding environment, including significant debris, standing water and widespread animal waste. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Nayzak Najm\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PSP4252SK5A4XBDENU5QLJKBFE.jpg\" width=\"980\" height=\"1225\" \/>Nayzak Najm(KWTX GRAPHIC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Police said 15 cats were found in the apartment. Twelve were alive but showed varying levels of malnourishment. One cat was in critical condition and taken to an emergency veterinary clinic, where euthanasia was recommended due to the severity of its condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">APD said two additional cats were found dead inside the unit. Investigators said evidence indicated the remains had been partially consumed by surviving animals, and the cause of death could not be determined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Animal control removed the surviving cats and transported them for evaluation and care, APD said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Detectives determined Najm abandoned the animals when she vacated the apartment, leaving them without adequate food, water or care, police said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The 13 charges correspond to the surviving cats tied to the case. APD said charges were not filed for the two deceased cats because the cause of death could not be determined. Arrest warrants have been issued and approved by a municipal court judge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">APD also reminded the community that abandoning animals is illegal and urged anyone unable to care for pets to seek alternatives such as contacting local shelters, rescue groups or veterinary providers.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 KWTX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) &#8211; The Austin Police Department\u2019s Animal Cruelty Unit has filed 13 Class A misdemeanor charges&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,99237,99238,99235,99236,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-265197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-cruelty-to-non-livestock-animals","12":"tag-malnourished-cats-found-inside-austin-apartment","13":"tag-nayzak-najm","14":"tag-nayzak-najm-arrested-in-austin","15":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}