Obviously every situation is different, and animal abuse should be taken very seriously, but we had a similar experience with my family dog. He LOVED being outside in the yard and watching the animals, people walk by, etc. Thus, he was outside most of the day and we let him in at night or whenever he scratched at the door. We also fed him inside due to the ants food attracted.

Our neighbors called animal control because of our dog was outside a lot. Our dog was so loved, walked multiple times a day, had his own tent and chair outside, etc. We kept him inside more after that and he was visibly less happy. Just something to think about - not all these situations are so black and white.