Jewel the Great Dane: at one time, she got down to just 86 pounds

Judge Finds Boggs Guilty Of Animal Cruelty, Issues $400 Fine He's Ordered To Pay $300 Humane Society; Dog Is Surrendered By Jerry E. Clark   Covington, VA (April 27, 2017) - Falling Spring resident Mike Boggs has gotten a strong lesson in animal treatment as a result of a phone call recently made to the That dog, "Jewel", a 7 year-old Great Dane, dropped to just 81 pounds and was so hungry that it appeared to have been chewing on itself. In his defense, Bogg's attorney told the court that he had been receiving many angry telephone calls and angry comments from area residents including highly critical text messages and that it had been upsetting his 7 month pregnant wife. The dog was in such poor condition that the Alleghany Humane Society brought it to the attention of the local Commonwealth Attorney's office. The hearing on the case was held today at 3 p.m. in Covington. Bogg's attorney told the court that her client had never been involved in any prior trouble, and in fact, regularly donated to the Humane Society. He has three other dogs which are treated well, she indicated. From the beginning of the court session, she indicated that he would voluntarily surrender the dog to the local Humane Society. (It was that specific issue which caused several area residents to attend the court session, many of whom worried that Jewel might be returned to her owner. That was not to be.) Boggs was "not some monster who doesn't care about animals," his attorney told the court. She said that Boggs had been treating the animal for tapeworm and another condition and was feeding and watering it, but that treatment didn't end up well. She asked the court to "take this matter under advisement," but in the end, that request was denied. The photos given to the court by Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Ann Gardner clearly showed the very poor condition of the animal. That was the bad news: the good news is that "Jewel" now is up to 106 pounds and is doing quite well. General District Court Judge Gregory Mooney told the audience that the laws of the Commonwealth were clear about a finding of neglect. Gardner told the court that the dog was "starving to death" and that this was a "pretty aggravated case. It was literally eating itself," she said. The judge agreed with the scientific findings in the case and issued a fine of $400 (with $300 of that suspended, as long as Boggs obeyed the court's order and paid court costs). The judge also assessed Boggs the $300 in costs that were involved with feeding and assisting Jewel to recuperatoe at the local Humane Society shelter as well. "I have no intention of demonizing him," judge Mooney said. (Boggs is or was an official of the local United Steelworkers Union, but as of the writing of this story, what position he held or holds is not clear. A message left for him to make a public statement on the case has not yet been returned.)

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