Police question reports of dogs tied to rail tracks

CLEVELAND -- Investigators have found no evidence that three dogs were tied up on a railroad track, or that two of them were killed by a train as they initially believed after earlier reports indicated that a witness saw a man tying a dog to the track.

Authorities are unsure whether it happened at all.

Investigators have not found the bodies of any dogs in the riverfront neighborhood overlooking downtown Cleveland, police district Commander Keith Sulzer said.

Police said last week that an animal control officer told officers about the dogs after he spoke with a railroad worker who said he witnessed from a distance a dog being tied to the track.

The worker also said someone appeared to take photographs or a video of it.

The worker said two dogs had been killed earlier in the area.

The reports outraged animal welfare groups, and the story generated donations for a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.