“Very unfortunate, but appears to be an accident.”
It appears the dog was chained up and left unattended for an extended period of time, against the law in CA.
My thought is the owner(s) will be charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and offered no jail time if they pay a fine, reimburse Coastal GSR for vet bills, and agree not to have pets for 10 years.
I have no idea how long the dog was left unattended. The articles are not saying.