It's a story that shocked many of you, one about a dog investigators say was abandoned and left to die in a Central Kentucky home.

WKYT has learned police are filing charges in the case. As we first told you Wednesday night, neighbors found the dog starving at a home in Cynthiana.

"It upset me. And I'm not even an animal person at all," noted Cynthiana Police Sergeant Wilbur Gross.

Animal control officers picked the dog up from a home where they say he was locked in the basement, scared and starving. Sergeant Wilbur Gross believes at least three other dogs were inside there with him.

"We noticed that the back door of the house had been clawed at, and a hole dug through it, like they escaped through the hole. But there wasn't a very big hole. The dog that was inside wasn't big enough to get through the hole so that's probably why it was still there."

Sergeant Gross is filing animal cruelty charges.

"Three quarters of the dog's hair was missing. Fleas everywhere. Just malnourished. About 50 pounds underweight from where it should have been. It should be a pretty good sized dog and other than it being tall you would think it maybe was a chihuahua as thin as it was. You could see its ribs, its spine, everything."

He hasn't made much progress since last week, when Sergeant Gross first saw him.

"I thought the animal was gonna die."

Animal shelter leaders are deciding if they need to euthanize, and police are pursuing his owners.

Police say the dog's owners, Donna and Edward Golden, are charged with cruelty to animals, abandonment, and criminal mischief. They could face up to a year in jail.