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Woman faces prison sentence for taking chained dog from mobile home

Posted at 12:48 AM, Feb 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-18 01:18:27-05

ACCOMACK COUNTY, Va. -- A Virginia woman is facing ten years in prison for taking a dog she found chained up outside a mobile home in January of 2015 in Accomack County.

The Virginian-Pilot reports Bettina Rodriguez said she was told the animal was "being left outside in all kinds of weather with no food or water."

Rodriguez told the newspaper the dog was near death the day it was taken and that complaints to animal control officers didn't work.

As a result, she and two others decided totake action.

But experts warn that if you spot animal being abused or neglected, you should rely on animal control.

“Documenting it is a much better option than taking it into your own hands. Let the authorities who are trained to investigate and carry though the laws handle that situation,” Tabitha Treloar with the Richmond SPCA said.

Rodriguez's trial is slated to begin Thursday.