The Ballad of Anne and Raffaello took perhaps its most distressing turn this morning when it was revealed that in all the oily-boyfriend dumping and alleged deity-swindling, a 2-year-old is perilously caught in middle. But little Esmeralda won't be in limbo for long, we hear — not if an ally of jailed Hathaway ex Raffaello Follieri gets his way:

"Could Anne Hathaway please come get her dog?" asked a friend of Follieri.

The pooch is being cared for by Follieri's mother, Anna, who's here from Italy for cancer treatment and living in his $40,000-a-month Trump Tower penthouse.

While Follieri is in jail and unable to make bail, "he can't afford a dog walker, and his mum has cancer," said our source. "I feel bad for the dog. She's a beautiful, sweet dog who probably greeted the FBI agents with her tail wagging."

The animal lovers at Page Six weren't taking any chances, meanwhile, further scandalizing Hathaway online with an age-advanced rendering of Esmeralda three weeks from now (pictured above), couched in the guise of an ad for something called the "World Society for the Protection of Animals." Another skeevy Follieri front, to be sure — this asshole thought of everything.

• Follieri Bust Maroons Pooch [Page six]

Tags: anne hathaway | labrador retriever | raffaello follieri