Created: 10/7/2008 12:37:51 PM 
CLAY COUNTY, FL -- A few weeks ago, First Coast News first reported that a dog picked up by Clay County Animal Control died in the truck during transport back to the shelter.
According to county officials, the dog was left in the non-air conditioned truck while one of its employees attended a staff meeting.
The dog, a Rottweiler named Diamond, was sent to a lab in Kissimmee for a necropsy. The report from the lab came back inconclusive, but lab workers suggested Diamond likely died as a result of heat stress and lack of water.
On September 25, the county signed off on an experiment to "recreate and measure" the environmental conditions felt by Diamond before she died.
According to a report written by a county official, a dog of similar size and color to Diamond was removed from the shelter and placed in a non-air conditioned shelter van for an hour to see how the dog responded.
The dog sat in the truck for an hour. The temperature never exceeded 86 degrees according to Bill Bodenweber, the director of Enforcement Services.
Based on the results, and the fact that Diamond had wandered the streets for some time before being captured by Animal Control officers, Bodenweber said he "cannot conclude that any action on Clay County Animal Control or the officer" contributed to the dog's death.
We'll have more on this story on First Coat News beginning at 5 p.m.
