The RSPCA has been criticised for successfully prosecuting two brothers who allowed their Labrador to become fat.
Magistrates convicted Derek Benton, 62 and his brother David, 53, of causing unnecessary suffering after a £12,000 two-day trial.
But they decided that the dog, Rusty - who was 11-and-a-half stone at his heaviest - could be returned to the Bentons providing it was properly cared for. They imposed a conditional discharge on each of the men.
David Benton, a crane driver, said afterwards that the RSPCA were behaving like "the fat police" and that he had been "dumbfounded" by the prosecution.
Earlier the brothers' lawyer, Ann-Marie Gregory, had told the court in Ely, Cambridgeshire, that the case had left the owners of overweight animals living in fear of prosecution.
But RSPCA inspectors denied behaving unreasonably and said they had acted to prevent Rusty suffering.
Chief Inspector Mark Thompson, who led the investigation, said he was disappointed that the court had ruled that the dog could return home. He said he feared for the animal's future.
Both men denied causing unnecessary suffering, saying the animal was overweight because it had arthritis and could not exercise.
The RSPCA told magistrates that the Bentons had allowed Rusty's weight to rise from eight to more than eleven-and-a-half stones in two years.
Officials said the brothers, who live together in Fordham, Cambridgeshire, had ignored veterinary advice and failed to give Rusty an appropriate diet.
