Scandal deepens over dog frozen alive after she was drenched with water in minus 32C

The agonising death of a one year old dog encased in ice and frozen to the floor of its outside kennel caused shock around the world after our story this week.

A heartrending video shows the female white dog, eyes still open and frightened, pathetically waving its paw pleading for release. 

Animal activists finally freed the white dog, but she had been tortured too much to live after the horrific ordeal. A vet gave her an injection to put her out of her misery. 

Now a deputy in the Russian federal parliament has claimed police took no action against the owner - a man who has not been named yet. 

Politician Vladimir Burmatov demanded an investigation, saying they have 'serious questions' to answer over the 'wild, ugly and barbaric' case, and prosecution of the owner. 

'An owner poured water over his dog and left it to freeze in the kennel,' he said. 'It stuck to the ground. The kennel was without the floor. It was dying in a painful way. 

'Yakutsk police actually refused to respond, although they had  the legal grounds and the claims of animal activists.'

There are 'serious questions' over the work of Yakutsk police and the 'legality and validity' of their failure to open a criminal case against the owner, he said. 

'We will seek to bring to justice all who are guilty,' he said.

He has now won a promise from the head of the Interior Ministry in Yakutia, Vladimir Prokopenko, to investigate why his officers took no action. 

Burmatov, chairman of the ecology and environmental protection committee,  is also demanding action from the Siberian republic's prosecutor-general Nikolay Pilipchuk.

'The key question is still: in what circumstances did the animal die, and who will take responsibility for its death?

'The minister of Internals of Yakutia agreed with my proposal to re-check what had happened and to assess the actions of the police who conducted the investigation.'

Police said the owner claimed the dog was suffering from 'canine distemper', but did not explain how this led to the treatment the pet received of being frozen to death encased in ice. 

But the politician, from United Russian Party, praised the animal activists for highlighting the case, and promised: 'Together we will win.'

A female volunteer said: 'The eyes, I will never forget them. Did you ever see a man who wanted to live but who was already dying? 

'The dog had exactly the same eyes, understanding everything, just unable to explain.'

The activists have demanded action against the owner, with a petition signed by more than 20,000 Russians.

'It's one thing is when your dog dies, but this man has many children,' said a volunteer. 'Today he let his dog die next to his house, and tomorrow the same may happen to his children.'