Tuktoyaktuk dog catcher Chuck Gruben discovered three dead sled dogs frozen to the ground in a local dog yard on Dec. 23. (Courtesy of Chuck Gruben)

RCMP in the Arctic hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., say it was illness, not negligence, that killed three sled dogs that were found dead and frozen to the ground last month.

As a result, no charges will be laid against Randall Pokiak, the owner of the dogs.

"The gentleman said he was taking care of them the best that he could," Tuktoyaktuk RCMP Const. Ian Diplock told CBC News on Tuesday.

"[He] didn't have the shelter for them."

Diplock said he was told the dogs died of an illness, but the illness was not identified.

The three dogs were part of a team of 12 sled dogs that were found tied to a chain in a dog yard near Pokiak's house on Dec. 23.

Tuktoyaktuk's local dog catcher made the grisly discovery that day, after chasing some escaped dogs back into the yard. Three other dogs from Pokiak's team were found to be weak, skinny and barely moving.

"The dogs that were tied up, you can tell that they were starving because you could, like, see their ribs," said Tuktoyaktuk resident Holly Gruben.

Gruben said some of the dogs got off their chains, escaped and stole meat from people's yards, then began attacking her son's puppy.

"The pup was getting dragged from our stairs by four other dogs," she said.

"My husband ran out to go after the dogs to get the pup, but it was already too late because I guess they already ate its guts … they ate the pup."

The Northwest Territories does not have its own territorial animal protection legislation.

In order for police to consider laying animal cruelty charges against the dog's owner under the federal Criminal Code, Diplock said the animals needed to have been subjected to long-term neglect.

"It's not a charmed life or a spoiled life, but it's the life that many dogs up north have," he said of the sled dogs. "We believe that the gentleman was taking care of the dogs."