Adopted shelter dog - 5 months later owner wants her back

[blairasb]

[QUOTE=Chall;7579301]
You are a tough crowd, but I guess you have more experience.
Would you have the same position if the dog was lost for only three weeks?[/QUOTE]

That wasn’t the case, so why does it matter? For me, it wouldn’t change that. Our family has dealt with some major medical doozies over the years. Nobody’s pets missed so much as a single feeding, let alone gone MIA for months before anybody started to look for it. About the only reason that my opinion would change would be if somebody dumped it at a shelter far away from “home” where the owner would have no real reason to call in the case of “my dog has disappeared.”

[S1969]

[QUOTE=blairasb;7579334]
That wasn’t the case, so why does it matter? For me, it wouldn’t change that. Our family has dealt with some major medical doozies over the years. Nobody’s pets missed so much as a single feeding, let alone gone MIA for months before anybody started to look for it. About the only reason that my opinion would change would be if somebody dumped it at a shelter far away from “home” where the owner would have no real reason to call in the case of “my dog has disappeared.”[/QUOTE]

Actually, re-reading the OP - the dog was only lost for a week or so before being adopted out. Which is a very short time.

If AC found out that the family did not know the dog was lost, then I would be more sympathetic. Still doesn’t sound like an ideal home (if they were, in fact, breeding her)…but it is possible.

[oliverreed]

But wait - OP adopted the dog FIVE MONTHS ago (for emphasis, not yelling) and the former owner just contacted AC now? No way, no how.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=oliverreed;7579352]
But wait - OP adopted the dog FIVE MONTHS ago (for emphasis, not yelling) and the former owner just contacted AC now? No way, no how.[/QUOTE]

I don’t disagree that I’d want a LOT of proof that they either did not know the dog was missing; or had been looking and somehow AC did not connect the dots. But, as I said, I own a cat that fell through the cracks just like the story…the owner did not know that the loser she left in charge of the cat abandoned it.

[Horsegal984]

I could see three weeks as a more reasonable time frame to realize something isn’t right (if the story about the sick kid is true). However, you want me to believe that all winter the dog has been gone and they just started looking for her at the beginning of breeding season? Whatever the reason that smells of manure.

OP- you’ve sent the one nice email, now cease all contact. If they start pestering you be very firm. “you got an update, that is all, now do not contact us again.” We had to change our policy about strays/sick animals left at the clinic because of the number of Good Samaritans who got upset about where they animal wound up.

[Bicoastal]

AC did wrong

Wow I am stunned AC entertained this. They should NEVER have contacted you!! :mad: Their job is to intervene and remind the owners of the rules and regulations, not pass the problem onto you.

The owners gave up rights to the dog and her whereabouts when she was relinquished or exceeded the stray-hold time period.

Jingling the former owner doesn’t harass you.

[cnvh]

We took in a stray cat who had wandered onto the porch of the place where I worked. Cat was an adult female, completely emaciated, and in heat. One of my coworkers urged me to take her because she had no room for another cat, so we did.

Unbeknownst to me, Coworker decided the next day to post flyers in the area, announcing a found cat. :no: A few weeks later, somebody called and said she was theirs. She might have been-- their description isn’t how I would have described her, but it was plausible. But when we found her, she was skin and bones, and an unspayed female at that-- NOT exactly well-cared-for!!

By that time, we had already had her spayed and microchipped. And no, we didn’t give her back.

[Casey09]

[QUOTE=Chall;7579301]
You are a tough crowd, but I guess you have more experience.
Would you have the same position if the dog was lost for only three weeks?[/QUOTE]

The shelter should never have told the OP about any of this. If people can’t trust that someone won’t come and try to claim or make them feel guilty about a dog they’ve just adopted, people are going to be less inclined to adopt dogs. The holding period is set by law (and in most jurisdictions it is shorter than you think. The hard fact is that it is tough enough to fund animal shelters and they can’t keep animals for weeks and weeks. It sounds harsh, but this is why animals should be microchipped.

[Nezzy]

what kind of owner starts looking 5 months AFTER the fact? are you kidding me? they were horrible owners. there is no way i’d let them see the dog. Move on and hopefully they will not harass you. if they do, call the police.

[Zu_Zu]

Refrain from contact ~ Enjoy your new dog ``` she is YOURS !!!

[B]
Best to refrain from any contact ~

Enjoy your new dog !

SHE is YOURS and YOU are HERS ~[/B]

[trubandloki]

I think someone higher up on the food chain at this shelter needs to have a talking to about this situation. The shelter never should have contacted you. Sob stories are a dime a dozen when it comes to shelter animals. If this sob story (which seems to have huge holes in it) is true then the owners deserve a ‘so very sorry’ and that is all.
Casey09 hit the nail on the head. It is hard enough to convince people to adopt from a shelter. It will impossible if people think that just as soon as they have bonded and gotten the animal situated the shelter will give them a call about the old owner wanting the animal back.

[asb2517]

Ok. Devil’s Advocate here. OP says 8 year old was in a serious car accident and hospitalized for an extended period of time.

Let’s just say family was involved in a life threatening accident that required extensive hospitalization and rehab. If the whole family was involved, then someone else made the decision as to the care of the dog. Maybe Grandma stepped in and gave the dog to Cousin Agnes to care for until the family recovered. Cousin Agnes is really a flake and abandons the dog. If the family is in the hospital and is asking Grandma how Poopsie is, and Grandma says, “Oh, don’t worry about that now…Poopsie is just fine. Cousin Agnes has her.”

Now family has recovered and finds out Poopsie got adopted unbeknownst to them by the nice OP. Let’s just say you were the family…wouldn’t you want your dog back??

I know OP says that the dog apparently had puppies recently, but really she doesn’t know the whole backstory and the real timeline.

I don’t know…maybe I’m a sucker, but I guess I’d want to talk to the family and find out the real story. If they are flakes, she can always keep the dog. If they are genuinely nice people who had a tragedy, then maybe she gives the little girl back her dog.

[AllWeatherGal]

After reading all the posts, I agree with those who suggest a stern conversation with the shelter management about how they handled this situation. Of course, any kind person would say “sure, they can contact me …” and too often be given reasons to regret it.

Sad if the story is true, but if the family is recovering from a situation so traumatic that it took months to decide to find the dog, I wouldn’t trust the aftermath to be any different. I would consider returning an animal to a home that considers everyone family, not just the humans. If it’s a dog that nobody checks on PERSONALLY, they can get the kid another one.

[Silly_Pink_Bunny]

[QUOTE=asb2517;7579527]
Ok. Devil’s Advocate here. OP says 8 year old was in a serious car accident and hospitalized for an extended period of time.

Let’s just say family was involved in a life threatening accident that required extensive hospitalization and rehab. If the whole family was involved, then someone else made the decision as to the care of the dog. Maybe Grandma stepped in and gave the dog to Cousin Agnes to care for until the family recovered. Cousin Agnes is really a flake and abandons the dog. If the family is in the hospital and is asking Grandma how Poopsie is, and Grandma says, “Oh, don’t worry about that now…Poopsie is just fine. Cousin Agnes has her.”

Now family has recovered and finds out Poopsie got adopted unbeknownst to them by the nice OP. Let’s just say you were the family…wouldn’t you want your dog back??

I know OP says that the dog apparently had puppies recently, but really she doesn’t know the whole backstory and the real timeline.

I don’t know…maybe I’m a sucker, but I guess I’d want to talk to the family and find out the real story. If they are flakes, she can always keep the dog. If they are genuinely nice people who had a tragedy, then maybe she gives the little girl back her dog.[/QUOTE]

I agree.

[french_fry]

We do not have nearly enough information to be judging the dog’s former family.

There are a lot of assumptions made about the dog being bred, the family not looking for her for five months, etc. We don’t know the former family is responsible for any of those things. Perhaps they had just adopted her recently. Perhaps they’ve been looking for her this whole time.

I would want to talk to the former owners and get their side of the story.

When I was younger a house cleaner left the door ajar and our family dog got out. She was missing for several days and was eventually found at a shelter much further away than we would have ever imagined. Apparently she had been picked up on the side of the road and the person who found her drove her back to his home and kept her for a couple of days before dropping her off at the nearest shelter, where we luckily found her before her grace period. (FWIW even though she was a pretty easy to describe dog it took going in person - they said they didn’t have her over the phone.) I guess I’m really lucky that we didn’t miss her by a day or something and that we weren’t assumed to be the scum of the earth for letting her get loose without a collar. (This was pre-microchip, of course, not that that’s a failsafe.)

[hastyreply]

You just have to use your instincts on this. I think they should be happy dog is in a good home and happy.

I was involved with an interesting rescue for a BC rescue. The dog was to be put to sleep that evening and I was asked since I nearby to go and check him out. He’d been there over a month. Picked up as a stray. He’d had a collar and tag but when contacted the wife said they had moved to an apartment and had given/sold dog to someone who wanted him for a cow dog. Dog was 5-6 ish NO herding instinct. He spent a week with me and my sheep just ignored him. He did want to chase cars and would run the fence if he could see them. He was a distant dog, didn’t really connect with you. Kinda like being around an autistic dog. I had him kenneled and not with my dogs and he went to the rescue after a week. They had all sorts of trouble with him fighting with other dogs and being destructive and sent him to a dog trainer who made good progress with him but said he needed to be with a strong knowledgeable dog person. He was tried once but failed in the home. He wanted to chase squirrels and would lunge at cars when he was walked. The adopter wasn’t a dog person who knew how to handled a dog like this and returned him. He was staying in a foster home with many other dogs and it wasn’t a great environment. The original owners had contacted the rescue not long after they had gotten the dog and asked to have him back but they had refused thinking they should be punished for finding him a home like they did ( the dog was given away from this owner and that is the one he strayed from ). After 10 months in rescue and no interest in adoption other than the failed attempt the originals again contacted the rescue. I was asked how I felt about him going back and honestly I said let them pay the adoption fee and get him back because he was miserable, as were the foster parents with him where he was and he was kenneled up to 20 hrs a day. I had had the dog at my place twice and he never once tried to connect with me no matter what I did. The trainer said the same thing. I’m told when he saw the original owner he was a different dog than they had ever seen. Was it ideal, no probably not, but the dog was really better off and hopefully they had learned a lesson.

[Casey09]

[QUOTE=french fry;7579655]
We do not have nearly enough information to be judging the dog’s former family.

There are a lot of assumptions made about the dog being bred, the family not looking for her for five months, etc. We don’t know the former family is responsible for any of those things. Perhaps they had just adopted her recently. Perhaps they’ve been looking for her this whole time.

I would want to talk to the former owners and get their side of the story.

When I was younger a house cleaner left the door ajar and our family dog got out. She was missing for several days and was eventually found at a shelter much further away than we would have ever imagined. Apparently she had been picked up on the side of the road and the person who found her drove her back to his home and kept her for a couple of days before dropping her off at the nearest shelter, where we luckily found her before her grace period. (FWIW even though she was a pretty easy to describe dog it took going in person - they said they didn’t have her over the phone.) I guess I’m really lucky that we didn’t miss her by a day or something and that we weren’t assumed to be the scum of the earth for letting her get loose without a collar. (This was pre-microchip, of course, not that that’s a failsafe.)[/QUOTE]

It isn’t really about being judgmental. This is a young dog, and they’ve had her for 5 months. That is a long period of time in a dog’s life. She has settled in and is doing well. Legally, she belongs to the OP now. I doubt it would be best for her to move her once again. It is better to leave the dog where she is.

[french_fry]

[QUOTE=Casey09;7579753]
It isn’t really about being judgmental. This is a young dog, and they’ve had her for 5 months. That is a long period of time in a dog’s life. She has settled in and is doing well. Legally, she belongs to the OP now. I doubt it would be best for her to move her once again. It is better to leave the dog where she is.[/QUOTE]

I think this is an excuse, and a poor one at that.

Legally the new owner has the right to do whatever she wants, but don’t use the, “it’s better for the dog” excuse because it’s not necessarily.

[mp]

[QUOTE=NorCalDressage;7578773]

Any advice on how to handle?[/QUOTE]

You’ve answered the email. Ignore any subsequent attempts of the former owners to connect.

Talk to the AC manager, so she/he knows what happened. AC shouldn’t have contacted you, in any event. But especially about a story that IMO is more than a little questionable.

[asb2517]

I wonder how this story would play out on here if the shoe was on the other foot…OP is in serious car accident and hospitalized. She entrusts someone to look after her dog. That person doesn’t do it and OP has no way of physically checking on the dog (she is hospitalized after all). OP gets out of hospital, finds out dog has been adopted and wants to contact adoptive dog parent…

I just wonder how many of the people in the “original dog owners don’t deserve the dog” camp would change their tune after hearing a sad story.

Like I said, maybe the original owners are horrible people that don’t deserve a dog…but MAYBE, just maybe, this is a sad story about a hurt little girl that lost her dog.

I personally would feel like a jerk keeping a dog if that’s the case…but that’s just me. I would want to talk to the original owners and hear the story at least.