CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Police have determined that no dogs were killed Aug. 10 while tied to railroad tracks in the Tremont neighborhood, but one live dog was rescued after a train passed over it.

A train crew radioed a Norfolk Southern bridge tender to report that they ran over a dog apparently tied to the tracks because they could not stop in time, police said Friday night. It was later determined that the dog was not tied but that her leash was wedged between two rails, probably by accident.

The original story in Plain Dealer gained nationwide attention. It said three dogs were tied to CSX tracks around the same time on Aug. 10, and that two were killed. The story was based on interviews with police and a city animal-control officer.

The story prompted at least three organizations and a private citizen to offer a total of $15,000 in reward money seeking information about who was tying dogs to tracks. More than 50 people have called the Cuyahoga County Animal shelter with interest in adopting the surviving dog.

That mixed-breed female dog could be adopted soon, if no owner comes forward.

Cleveland Police Lt. Mark Ketterer, who headed the city investigation, interviewed the bridge tender at the center of the story on Friday night. The bridge tender, who works for Norfolk Southern and not CSX, was the person who freed the dog and was the source of the information relayed to police.

Ketterer said the man told him he reported to railroad police that the dog was stuck and they told him there were two similar incidents earlier in the week in which dogs were killed, but they did not say where.

The bridge tender repeated that information to an animal-control officer dispatched to the tracks off University Road in Tremont, after Cleveland police were contacted by the railroad.

By the time Ketterer got there, the animal warden was leaving with the dog. The warden told the lieutenant what he learned from the bridge tender. That included information that two dogs had been killed on Norfolk Southern tracks.

The Plain Dealer phoned a man believed to be the bridge tender on Thursday. He declined to give his name or make any public statements. He referred the reporter to Norfolk Southern police, who have not returned phone calls.

Ketterer said the railroad worker did nothing wrong. He said Friday was the first time police talked to him.

John Baird, the city's chief animal control officer, said that after he returned from vacation on Monday, the assistant animal warden told him the same thing he told Ketterer.

The Plain Dealer story ran on Wednesday. It also said the railroad worker saw a man with the dog taking pictures of it on the tracks.

Ketterer said the railroad employee told him he did not see anyone with the dog, but that a man was on the property taking pictures of the Interstate 90 bridge.

Leslie DeSouza, director of the county animal shelter, said last week the surviving dog appeared to be about two years old, and may be a beagle-doberman mix,

DeSouza that when the dog was transferred from the city kennel to the county facility, her physical condition was "amazingly remarkable. She came through this without a scratch."

However, the shelter director said the dog continued to show signs of mental trauma from the ordeal. "When she came to us we couldn't get anywhere near her. She was scared to death."

DeSouza said personnel still cannot make sudden moves around the dog, but she has engaged with people since her arrival and is now frisky and playful.

She said the shelter will determine who gets the dog by going down the list of people who phoned or wrote about the dog in the order in which they came forward.

The county has stringent adoption standards, DeSouza said, and each person will be asked about other pets they might have, whether they own or rent, and other conditions in the home.

Ketterer said he and his wife are considering trying to adopt the dog.

"If we are successful, we'll call her Miracle," he said.

Officials and animal-care groups urge anyone with knowledge of people abusing animals to contact local law enforcement.