A woman has been charged with failing to care for a dog that Humane Society agents found starved to death, lying on a snow-covered porch in North Braddock.

On Monday, agents with the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society responded to a call from a concerned neighbor. They initially thought the dog had died from exposure to bitterly cold weather.

The dog was about 30 pounds underweight and there was no food in its digestive tract, according to Dr. Georgia Nakovich, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy. She estimated the dog had not been fed in the last seven to 10 days. The dog had eaten a significant amount of shredded garbage bags and aluminum foil, said Gretchen Fieser, of the North Side shelter. The necropsy report says those items clogged the dog's intestines and caused a hemorrhage.

Chauntel Hardy, who lives in the house on Thirteenth Street where the dog was found, has been charged with failure to provide care, shelter and veterinary services to the dog. She faces a $750 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

The investigation is continuing, Ms. Fieser said, because a different woman had adopted the dog in November from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania and reportedly gave the dog to Ms. Hardy.