Published: April 14, 2008 01:25 pm      

Arrest made over sickly Great Dane

By Sean Bailey / Staff Writer

The man who allegedly neglected, “Princess” a great dane who was discovered by Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter employees to be half of her recommended weight, has been charged with second-degree animal cruelty.

Virgil Whitaker, 39 was arrested by Knox County Animal Control Officer Carl Bolton on Friday morning.

Bolton said Whitaker was charged with second-degree animal cruelty mainly because first-degree animal cruelty deals with animal fighting.

Kentucky Revised Statute 525.130 lists second-degree animal cruelty as a class A misdemeanor, which means Whitaker could face some jail time and a fine.

While Whitaker was being tracked down and arrested, Princess, the Great Dane, was slowly being nursed back to health at the Knox County Animal Shelter. Shelter Manager Amy Young said the public response to Princess has been tremendous.

“Yesterday (Thursday) we had 300 people or more come in to visit Princess, we’ve just had a constant flow of people,” Young said.

Princess apparently enjoys the company.

“Ninety-five percent of our visitors were here to see Princess, the public is fantastic. People are coming to just see Princess and she seems to love it,” Young said.

The severely malnourished Great Dane is slowly gaining a little bit of weight according to Young. This is thanks in part to the public donations of rice, chicken broth and blankets, Young said.

Young said she has been contacted by radio and TV stations from all over Kentucky inquiring about Princess’ condition. One of Young’s fellow employees even got a call from a friend in Virginia asking about Princess.

“We’ve been getting one call after another about Princess,” Young said. “With all the people coming in to see Princess it’s been hard to get a whole lot of work done. We were here until nine last night trying to get our daily work done. But it’s really neat, the reaction that people are having.”

One of the people that has contacted Young is Veterinarian Dr. Craig Blair who has a clinic in Lexington called Clays Mill Veterinary Clinic. Blair has agreed to treat Princess in Lexington.

“I was driving my daughter to school and heard about it on the local radio,” Blair said. “I had the day off, so when I got home I checked the pictures on the Internet and there was just something that hooked me. My wife and I are both vets and we discussed taking care of it. There was just something, just seeing the pictures we decided we should help.”

Blair said Young would be bringing Princess to Lexington sometime Friday.

Young said she is a little worried about the possible tumor that is on one of Princess’ legs. Since gaining a bit of weight, the swelling around the tumor has also increased.

Blair has been in discussion with a radiologist he works with, on how to proceed with treating Princess. As soon as he can, Blair is going to take X-rays of the dog to determine if the malnourishment/weight loss is purely from neglect, or from a different underlying cause. Blair said the lesion could either be a fungal infection or cancer. Princess also has some fungal infections on her bottom, Blair said.

“If it is just neglect I think she’ll be able to pull through, if it is something worse we will make sure her last days are much more comfortable than the rest of her life has been,” Blair said.

If Princess recovers she will most likely need a new home. Blair said Young was looking into the legal issues surrounding ownership of the dog. But right now Blair’s main concern is giving Princess all the medical treatment she needs.