Police in Wethersfield, Conn., wrote on Facebook that officers stopped a Ford Transit van for a motor vehicle violation Monday morning and noticed several small dogs visible in the front of the van, and it was apparent that the driver had been “living in the vehicle for several months.”

Police in Connecticut got a surprise when they pulled over a van driven by a Massachusetts woman and found that 22 dogs and a parrot were living inside the vehicle.

Police in Wethersfield, Conn., said nearly two dozen dogs and a parrot were living in this van.

When officers looked in the back, they found that the interior of the van was “covered in garbage and animal waste,” and there were several other animals living inside, according to the Facebook post.


A total of 22 dogs and a macaw were removed from the vehicle, police said in the Facebook post.

With the assistance of animal control officers from the Rocky Hill and Newington police departments, all of the animals were taken to nearby shelters for further evaluation, police said.

The driver was identified by the Associated Press as 58-year-old Suzanne Muzaffer Eser of Peabody.

She was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, according to police.

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.