Interesting FB Debate

[spotnnotfarm]

So, I just saw this post on a local lost and found Facebook group. I do not know any of these people but just curious what y’all think. So, a woman went out of town and somehow her dog went missing. I am unsure who was supposed to watch him. He ended up 25 miles away on a busy road. A man traveling through picked up said dog and supposedly took it to multiple vets and a few shelters. Dog was not chipped and was without a collar. The shelters were full and the vet said he would have to pay for boarding. He claims he posted the dog on FB, and the owner said she was out of town without cell service and never saw the posts.

The man drives the dog 300 miles to his house. He turns the dog into the local shelter (I find this odd, my shelter only takes dogs found in county) Dog is super cute and is adopted after stray hold. Somehow, the previous owner finds out about this, two months later, and wants her dog back. The shelter will not contact the adopter or release their name. She put up proof she has been looking for two months but was looking in her state.

I feel bad for the previous owner, but she should have gotten the dog chipped. The guy did what he thought was best but this has turned into a mess! Just curious on y’all’s thoughts.

[anon40672407]

What a mess. I would say she’s lost the dog for good, and that’s the right outcome. If she can’t make sure the animal is secured, then she doesn’t deserve the animal.

Of course, new details will come out about how she was being held for ransom for 2 months and only now was free to look for her dog that she raised from a pup thru 4 different life threatening illnesses and snake bite along with allergy to the ID chip which had to be removed, and the dog was originally stolen when she left for vacation, then blah blah blah. But from this set of facts? Find a new dog, lady.

[mommy_peanut]

Playing devils advocate…
First finder never really checked for a chip, possibly even removed the dog’s collar, & the shelter he took it to, in his home town, has an outdated scanner that only reads one kind of chip.

Happens way more than you would think

[spotnnotfarm]

It is a strange scenario. Now, there is evidence saying dog gets out a lot. However, the fact he drove the dog to another state and surrendered him there makes it impossible for her to locate her dog at any of her local shelters. It’s a huge mess and I just hope the dog was adopted into a good home.

[anon40672407]

@mommy_peanut

First finder never really checked for a chip, possibly even removed the dog’s collar, & the shelter he took it to, in his home town, has an outdated scanner that only reads one kind of chip.

Happens way more than you would think

I’m willing to believe it does, but who leaves town for days and days and doesn’t check with their dog sitter? That’s the part that’s sticking in my craw.

[spotnnotfarm]

She never answered who was watching the dog, which is weird. People have asked. She claims she had no cell service for 5 days. She is posting pictures asking the adopter to come forward and return the dog. Also, now someone has posted a comment on a found dog post from the finder with a link to her missing dog ad. Honestly, they both sound like idiots.

[SusanO]

I could see this happening in my neck of the woods where spay/neuter is optional and lots of people let their dogs run loose. Then they cry about loving Fido when it disappears. Lots of dogs found on busy roads - some lost and some dumped. And the shelters are full. Ditto the rescues that can only clean up so many messes at a time.

So I can see the dog being found in traffic. Happens daily where I live. No chip, no tags. Ditto. If the finder leaves the dog in traffic there is a good chance it gets hit by a car. All shelters full and doesn’t want to foot the boarding bill for somebody else’s dog. So it takes it to a shelter where he is - as long as you live in the county you can surrender a dog and you can say you found it anywhere. And somebody adopts it.

Probably happened in central Alabama. I think the first owner is out of luck. Maybe her pet sitter just put food out for the dog and didn’t tell her it was missing. She was lucky the dog went elsewhere and not killed.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Why didn’t she call her local shelters and vets? If she wasn’t willing to volunteer the sitter, I’m going to bet she left the dog in her yard outside alone with a doghouse and doggie door, but knew it wouldn’t sit well with many people. Or she may have been going through some sort of unattractive personal crisis she didn’t want to share and only went into dog hunt mode after it passed.

I don’t think the man just posting the dog on FB is necessarily “enough” because it could be she just isn’t on those particular “Found Pet” groups, as there are many. Did he go to the police? Because she should have at least called the local police, as well as animal control. On the other hand, it’s possible he only went to some random lesser-known vets and shelters, since he didn’t know the area.

I know shelters are overwhelmed and it sounds like many balls were dropped, too, since there could have been a bit more communication (assuming she tried to contact local shelters).

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

This is (sort of) similar to a situation I was in a few years ago. Driving home, I saw a little beagle running down the middle of a blacktop. I stopped, she jumped in. Clearly a very old dog - totally gray, no teeth, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She had a collar but no tags.

Not being able to take her home, and the shelter being full, I took her photo, made up a flyer, boarded her at my vet, and took flyers all over two counties. Posted her on FB Lost and Found pages. Nothing. Finally, after nearly a week, the owner saw a flyer, called the vet, and claimed her. Owner had been out of town and had left the dog with her elderly father, who let her get out and didn’t realize she was gone for several hours. Then, he had no clue how to search for her. He had been driving around the area, never suspecting that I had picked her up.

So I can see where the original owner of this dog could legitimately have not known. Yes, she should have had the dog chipped, or had tags on it at the very least, but . . . a sad situation all the way around.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Some people should not have dogs.

When I read stories like this, I feel like many people should not have dogs!

ETA: I live in Northern Virginia, an area full of prosperous, well-meaning people who adopt the dogs who are abandoned “down south” - things are very different there!

[S1969]

@spotnnotfarm

A man traveling through picked up said dog and supposedly took it to multiple vets and a few shelters. Dog was not chipped and was without a collar. The shelters were full and the vet said he would have to pay for boarding. He claims he posted the dog on FB, and the owner said she was out of town without cell service and never saw the posts.

I find this all hard to believe. So, it’s just as likely he didn’t bother trying to find the owner until he was 300 miles away (if at all).

I do think it’s possible for someone not to be online while they have a dog sitter - that’s sort of why people have dog sitters. E.g. they are out of the country, or in an area where they don’t have wifi, etc.

I do agree that the shelter should not give out the person’s name. That’s inappropriate. But they could try contacting that person directly.

[Mosey_2003]

I think it’s unfortunate, but I don’t think they should necessarily yank the dog from the new home either. The fact that she won’t confirm that there was a dog sitter is the sketchiest part - you don’t have to give out a name (because we know people on FB would attack them) but you can say, “Yes, there was a sitter, he got away from them/broke out/ran off etc.”

The shelter could contact the new home and ask if they’d be willing to give the dog back, but I don’t think they should be pressured or forced.

Is this a Husky? I think I saw some of it on FB but it was so long and convoluted I scrolled past.

[spotnnotfarm]

So, she has responded that the dog has wandered off before and she never worried about anyone grabbing him because she lives in a rural area. She was more worried about him getting attacked by a wild animal Still no confirmation of who was watching him.

As far as the finder, he claims that he went to several vets and shelters. Nobody would take him in. However, someone took a screenshot of one of his found posts and responded that the dog looked like this lady’s and he did not follow up. I think everyone screwed up here. Hopefully, the dog got an upgrade. So far, no word from the shelter to see if they contacted the adopter. They are under no obligation to do so and even if they do, the adopter can decline.

Not a husky, but a cute little guy from NC and ended up in GA.

[trubandloki]

@spotnnotfarm

So, she has responded that the dog has wandered off before and she never worried about anyone grabbing him because she lives in a rural area. She was more worried about him getting attacked by a wild animal Still no confirmation of who was watching him.

This makes me kind of glad that this poor thing found a new home.
Geez.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

If she said the dog had often wandered off, but she’d never worried before, and she’s not saying “yes, there was a sitter,” I’m betting dollars to doughnuts that there was no sitter, and she just leaves the dog in the yard with a doggie door or shelter, and kibble and water. Or maybe tells a neighbor or someone to pop in to feed and check on the dog.

On the other hand, I agree it sounds a bit fishy that the guy claims he went to a bajillion vets and shelters. If he was unfamiliar with the area, I’m guessing he went to one vet/shelter, and then left. It’s not entirely surprising that the shelter may not have remembered him (the person at the desk that day might just be a volunteer) and vet’s offices are equally as busy as shelters.

The shelter he finally took the dog to probably assumed the dog was a stray, waited the required period, and then was happy the dog found a home so quickly.

It’s just a sobering reminder of the need for microchipping, tagging, and so forth, because rescues and vet’s offices are so overwhelmed right now, it’s unfair for them to have to pick up all that slack.

[furlong47]

@anon40672407

I’m willing to believe it does, but who leaves town for days and days and doesn’t check with their dog sitter? That’s the part that’s sticking in my craw.

I go on camping and other trips where I’m out of phone range for days. People on a cruise or in a foreign country may have that issue too. I trust my pet sitter and if he can’t reach me he has my authorization to do any necessary vet care which I’ll pay or reimburse for as soon as I get back. I think just because cell phones exist, people have this weird expectation now that everyone should instantly be available 100 percent of the time.

My cat is chipped, the chip is registered (something lots of people fail to do), and also has a safety collar with ID. (And he’s a 100% indoor cat, and would have to get through two doors to be outside, but I live in an apartment where theoretically maintenance/landlord or somebody could accidentally let him out.) The reason for both is because I’ve seen dozens of times on FB where someone finds a pet and either doesn’t bother to check for a chip or doesn’t even know chips exist. I’ve seen people assume that an owner is terrible just because their pet got lost, barely try to find the owner for about a day with a handful of FB posts (what if the owner doesn’t have FB or isn’t in those groups), then keep or give away the pet.

The guy in this case was wrong to take the dog hundreds of miles away, pretty much making it impossible for the owner to ever find it. It doesn’t sound like he tried very hard to find the owner. The owner is wrong for not having ID on the dog and letting the dog frequently get out.

[Mosey_2003]

I can’t fathom why she wouldn’t have the dog chipped after it wandered off the first time (or before that). Heck, I chipped my puppy myself (well, I had my vet tech friend inject it) basically right after I got him, just in case. And his ID tag says he’s chipped too. Such a simple thing to do.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Yeah, especially if you know your dog is a “bolter,” not having a chip is really poor judgement. Ditto taking the dog to another state’s shelter system, of course, and it would have been nice if the vet or shelter could have stepped up and offered to have held the dog a day or two. But from what I’ve read, shelters in some areas are packed-to-brimming and vet’s offices are often short-staffed. So the message is always that ultimately you have to take responsibility for your pets.

This makes me think of another case, years back, though, where the shelter and rescue were very clearly in the wrong (with a microchipped dog, no less):

Dog claimed by rescue group ordered back to original owner

[spotnnotfarm]

It is frustrating. There was a dog that went missing in my town. The owner posted it all over FB and looked for two weeks. It was a unique dog and I saw it posted on a shelters website the next town over (We live close to the line between the two counties) I let the owner know the dog was at the shelter. The dog was picked up shortly after it went missing and never scanned. It had a working chip! Thankfully, the owner went right over and got her dog. I cannot understand why some places do not scan!

[trubandloki]

This thread makes me thankful that the main shelter near where I live (as far as I know) scans everything. They want to get pets back to their owners and not have to find them new homes.