According to Gordon, he followed up on the complaint and found the dog to have food, water, and shelter-and the owner in no violation.
The dog looked a little thin, and his rear looked bad-which his owner said was due to hip displacement-but he was up and happy, and getting around, Gordon said.
He said he checked on the animal several times, and spoke with the owner.
The owner was supposed to get him to the vet for some shots--which Gordon gave him some time to do and felt that if the dog was sick, the vet would notice.
Niemi had also called the state police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Special Agent Dave Holden.
The state police responded and spoke with Gordon-finding no violation of animal rights.
Niemi was not happy with this answer and decided to go to the owner and ask for custody.
The owner gave up his rights to the dog, and Niemi was on her way to Ocean State Emergency Veterinary Services.
Unfortunately, the dog died on the way to get help.
The criteria for abuse according to the law are the animal must have food, water, and shelter-all of which the dog had.
There was nothing malicious here, Holden said. "There was nothing that would shock your conscience."
The case is still under investigation by the state police, and an autopsy was not performed to determine exactly how the dog died.
Gordon said the dog could have been sick. He didn't speculate how old the dog was.
There are criteria that officials have to follow, Gordon said.
But, Holden said that the SPCA is working to come up with a different scale for police and animal control officers to follow that will also work in accordance to the law.
"It's tough because you have to be careful," he said. "You can't have people grabbing dogs off people's lawns because they say the SPCA guidelines said they could."
So, we're working to come up with a new scale and maybe hold a statewide seminar on these issues, Holden said.