A Max Meadows woman is facing felony animal cruelty charges after two dead dogs in crates were found inside her former Ivanhoe residence.
Virginia Dantana Kaye Tate, 19, was arrested on March 9 following an investigation by Wythe County Animal Control Officer S.G. Dauley.
Dauley said she got a report that Tate had left the residence with the dead dogs inside.
After investigating, she found a beagle mix and another mixed-breed dog that appeared to have died as a result of neglect. Dauley found a third dog, a pit mix, outside the trailer that neighbors had been feeding.
Tate, who was taken into custody at a friend’s Max Meadows residence, was also charged with misdemeanor animal abandonment, failing to obtain a county dog tag and failing to provide adequate care.
Given a court-appointed attorney to represent her, Tate, who is unemployed and has no criminal record, is free on bond while awaiting her April 18 preliminary hearing in Wythe County General District Court.
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“Officer states accused stated she was planning on moving to North Carolina in the next week,” a magistrate wrote in court documents. “Not cooperative at all with animal control officer.”