Call the police;

don't know how it works in your area, but Texas cruelty law says that animals must have access to water & shelter at all times.

The police *must* enforce the law.

how sad! i second sylvia's idea, call the police. how can animal control turn a blind eye to such a thing??

Go to City Hall or to the libraby and find a listing of the city ordinances in your city relating to animals. Most cities require the most basic of shelter, food and water but some do not require a shelter. If you see the owners are not in compliance, call the humane society and have an officer come out, give him a copy of the ordinance and dont take no for an answer.

& if city or county ordinances don't help, state law probably will, & law enforcement *must* enforce state law.

I have four Siberian huskies and because of their double coats, getting soaked is a real problem. If the inner coat gets wet it can take many hours for them to dry out. In warm weather this long-term dampness can cause skin problems (hot spots) and when it is cold the constant wet against their skin makes they very cold. Sibes don't have trouble keeping warm in below zero weather--as long as they are dry. I don't know what zone you are in, but no double coated dog does well anywhere when totally wet. Call animal control every day as long as the dog has no shelter. Better still, visit the pound everyday it is open and simply state that the dog is still outside without shelter. Take pictures in both good and bad weather. Does the dog always have food and clean water available? Write a letter to the editor and also see if a local TV station might be interested in investigating. If you have the courage, speak to the owner. Don't attack him/her, simply tell them you are concerned because it is a double coated dog. Any dog will get miserable if it is soaked for long periods, but true huskies have a bigger problem. If possible, get a man to go with you to speak to the owner. No need for either of you to be nasty to the owner--you're just there to educate them. Finally, check to see if a Siberian or Malamute rescue is in your area. I'll bet they will help you. Maybe the owner would be willing to surrender to dog to a rescue. Finally, it took me 2.5 years to get my first Siberian away from his idiot owner. Numerous neighbors complained about the fact that the dog was constantly in a tiny "kennel"--he could take three paces in the long direction--and they knew the dog was given food and water only once a day. I and another neighbor visited several times a day and refreshed his water and I gave him a good quality kibble if his food was wet, spilled or otherwise nasty. My neighbor even took him out for walks, but the owner didn't improve. The SPCA couldn't do anything to the owner because he didn't let the dog roam, he licensed the dog, food and water were present when they visited and he had a crappy little dog house inside the cage. Another thing that hurt the dog was that he didn't bark a lot. Siberians are usually very quietexcept for "wooing" when they are happy. If he made noise at night at least the owner would have been forced to put the dog inside the garage. I never attacked my neighbor, but I let him know often that I could provide a better home for the dog. My Sibe/Shep mix had a fenced yard and a doggie door into the garage. I fed her well, always had water available, took her with me everywhere, and let her sleep in my room at night. Eventually, the jerk owner of the abused Sibe decided the dog would be happier with me. Months after I had taken that dog I took him to the vet for a routine visit. When I walked in a client who was sitting, waiting with her pet to see the vet exclaimed to everyone present that I has a hero because I had saved that dog. I didn't even know the lady but she recognized the dog and had seen that he now lived with me.
Good luck and don't give up.

True enough what most said - don't give up. Kinda like on "Animal Cops", the first goal is to get the owner to comply with the law. The secondary goal may be to get them to just surrender it.

The law in our city dealt with code violations. The law stated that the "structure" for housing an animal had to have 3 sides, a roof, and a floor. And then food and water of course. Definitely check for your local "annotated codes". I think our local "City Code Annotated" can even be found online now. We would sometimes get law enforcement to try to enforce code violation if we couldn't get the person to comply on their own. Of course its sometimes a long drawn out battle between police visit, citiations, etc. Good luck!

Thank you all so much. I have an update and it is not good. I called the city animal welfare dept. It is a different division that I called last week. An officer of animal welfare called me back. He said he is very aware of this dog and there have been numerous complaints. However- he said they are not in violation of our ordinance. Apparently they bring the husky in at night. He can be outside tied up to the tree as long as he has food and water and that he is not a threat to other dogs or people. If he is left outside in inclement weather than that would be in violation. I told the officer I witnessed him being left outside in the pouring rain!He said this dog is well taken care of and up to date on all his shots! Wow- thats a good home! Sigh! He said that Huskies like the cold and can tolerate it. He said someone is home during the day as well. Great- so any one can just take in a dog- tie him up to a tree and think that it is being well taken care of. I am going to continue to watch during bad weather and I will call everytime he is left out in bad weather. We are due for severe storms today- hail and possible tornadoes!

Perhaps you can write the homeowners an anonymous letter expressing your concerns and the fact that the city animal welfare has numerous other complaints about the dog that have come in. Be firm, and tell them you and others are deeply concerned about the poor dog and will continue to call each time you see it tied out in bad weather. This peer-pressure approach may or may not work, of course, but it has worked for me in some situations. Some people are just clueless and need a nudge. Good luck.

so the animal control officer isn't doing his job;
not the first time that's ever happened!

Go to the next person up in the ladder of command, & if that doesn't get results, go to the mayor/city council.

& if you're in a city that has a tv station, report this to their "investigative reporter" division.

so sorry, Gracie. Now you know why I don't work in animal welfare anymore - I had to save my sanity. That is exactly what I meant by "long drawn out process". You know, the officer you spoke with is likely as frustrated as you are if not 20 times more. I really hated the annotated code being the ONLY thing that we could refer to for a @$#%$^$^$ law. Thank god we had a statewide leash law that applied to ALL domestics - dog or cat. Unfortunately, the owner likely thinks those laws are just there to annoy him.

Don't give up hope though.