PLAQUEMINE - Deputies are investigating the death of a dog that was abandoned inside a small, hot crate along the Mississippi River over the weekend.

According to the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office, the dog was found locked up behind the levee near Plaquemine early Sunday afternoon. The animal was taken to the LSU vet school in Baton Rouge with an internal temperature of about 107 degrees and died soon afterward. 

Investigators believe the owner was from East Baton Rouge and tried to leave the dog, a Rottweiler, at the Iberville animal shelter. Due to the shelter being overcrowded and the animal coming from another parish, the owner was turned away, according to Ronnie Hebert with the sheriff's office.

The animal's cause of death is pending a necropsy. 

Authorities have identified the dog's owner and plan to arrest that person on cruelty charges.