DALTON, Ga. — A Dalton woman is facing a charge of aggravated cruelty to an animal after giving up a dog that appeared to be “severely malnourished” to Whitfield County animal control.

Bridgett Denise Banks, 55, 1020 Dozier St., Dalton, was booked into the Whitfield County jail on Wednesday and later released on a $2,500 bond.

According to a Dalton Police Department incident report, a police officer was called to the county animal shelter on Friday, Aug. 5, by a Whitfield County sheriff’s deputy who had responded to a call to give up an animal at the Dozier Street address. The deputy said when he arrived he found a very skinny Rottweiler dog. He said the dog attempted to bite one of the people helping to move the animal but was so slow the person wasn’t bitten.

The deputy then showed the officer the dog, which is described as full-grown and appearing to be “severely malnourished.” The dog was panting heavily and had saliva hanging from its mouth. The officers spotted a couple of blood droplets hit the ground but were unable to tell where the dog was bleeding. After standing for only about a minute, the dog’s legs began to tremble and it laid down.

The officer asked the deputy what would happen to the dog and he said animal control was only waiting for him to see the dog’s condition before putting it to sleep.

“This indicated to me that the health of the animal was so deteriorated that they felt this animal was suffering and needed to be euthanized,” the officer wrote.

The deputy told the officer that Banks had said she had given the animal antibiotics but had not taken it to a veterinarian.

The officer then went to the Dozier Street address and spoke to Banks. She said the dog had become sick that Tuesday and prior to that had been “running around the yard acting normal.” She said that a family member had given the dog antibiotics but it had not helped.

According to the report, the officer then told Banks he planned to seek a warrant for her arrest in Whitfield County Magistrate Court.

No phone number could be found for Banks on Friday afternoon.