A Clients Story - His lost Dog

[D'tails]

Just yesterday a client told me about his purebred dog that got loose when the gate was left open. The local pound flat out LIED to him and told him they did not have the dog after he provided them with a detailed description.

A friend told him that the pound listed photos online and sure enough he found his dog - she really was there. When he called and told them he saw a photo of his dog on their site, they informed him that his dog was given to a breed rescue and was now in another state. They proceeded to lie to him and said the dog was in a purebred rescue of another breed. After some detective work he once again found photos of his dog in a totally different out of state rescue- a rescue that that does deal with this breed. The shelter once again lied to him saying the dog was placed with the incorrect rescue.

He provided photos of his dog, proof of the license, etc etc. To make a very long and corrupt story short, they eventually agreed to let him BUY his dog back for 400.00 and they spayed the dog against his wishes. They also forced him to fill out a long adoption form for his OWN DOG and called his vet to question wether or not the dog was abused or ever given proper care by the owner. He also had to agree to allowing the "rescue" to visit his home at any time and reposses his own dog if they see fit.

I groom this couple's other dog on a regular basis and they are very good owners. I was absolutely livid after hearing this story. This is a blatent case of rescues working above the law, essentially stealing an animal, profiting off of a stolen animal, and using the "abuse card" to take advantage of an elderly gentleman who didn't know enough to fight back.

[luvpups]

Wow that is unreal!

[Plexi]

At least he got his dog back, our local shelter took in a dog & cat owned by a guy who commited suicide so the police took the animals to the shellter, his mom called right way and said she would pick the animals up in the morning.
The dog had blood all over it from the owner,was misbehaving cause it didn't know what was going on with all the police at it's house and now it's in a place it didn't know,the shelter thought the dog was injured and wasn't a nice dog so they put the dog down right away!!! Mother came in first thing in the morning to get the animals to discover the dog was dead!! And this isn't the first time they did somethig like this!!!!!!!

[rainingcats&dogs]

thats just awful
a few years ago while at the shelter(i volunteer there)a young marine came in and said he was house sitting while his buddy was in iraq,and his cat escaped and luckily he found the cat at the shelter,but he couldnt get his friends cat back cause he wasnt the owner,and he tried to explain the situation but they said no true owner is the only one that can reclaim the cat,so true owner called the shelter on his way home from iraq and asked the shelter to please hold his cat until he got home he was on the way he would pay kennel fees anything he had to just please hold the cat,well the day he came to shelter to pick up his baby with proof the cat belonged to him they had adopted the cat out the day before,and said they couldnt do nothing about it,he asked the shelter if they could contact this family and explain the horrible situation and maybe they would find it i their hearts to give him back his cat he even offered to give the family a hefty chunk of change but the shelter refused i felt to so bad for this guy

[Arrooh]

This is just

too sickening. If he loves his dogs anywhere near as much as I love my dogs it would be screaming awful. Scares the bajeebies out of me. I'm glad through persistence he got it back but then the story about the suicided Son turned out so awful. It's hard to imagine how angry/upset I would be.

[fiveoclockdog]

It's not the first time. There's a book called "Cormac". The author experienced and then wrote about the exact same runaround. He finally got his dog back but it was a nightmare.

[lexapurple]

You would think this is once in a while accident thing. Wrong. It happens all the time!!! Our clients two labrodoodles (microchiped) ascaped from the house when a tree fell on it during the storm. They called all of shelters around here and they claimed that they didn't have her dogs. After a couple days of searching for her dogs she went to shelter to check it out herself and sure enough one of her dogs was in adoption area. She told them it was her dog and asked if they had her sibling. The shelter tried to give her another dog who was not hers. She demanded to see their impounded animals. They did let her do it because she came in with her cop friend. Her male dog was there and it was scheduled to be put to sleep next day. He didn't make it to adoption area. How did it happen?
First of all dogs were muddy when they were picked up by ac and it was assumed they were abandoned and no body bothered to check them for micro chips. Second, dogs were listed as wolf hound mixes.
Another client lost her black cocker spaniel. Shelter denied that they had him, but she kept going there every day, and found him there already neutered!
Sad thing is that there are two shelters in my area taht would adopt dogs out or give them to rescues. But two towns which are part of Greater Columbia Area, and where dogs could easily end up if they run, use a shelter that puts down all animals that are not reclaimed by owners! This shelter is closed to public and many owners don't even know about this shelter.

[Petekids]

This didn't happen in Louisville, KY, did it? Because they have laws in place to treat strays exactly as this dog and his owner was treated.

Be afraid - there are more and more laws in this country that are taking away our rights as owners of any animals. Keep an eye on local ordinances.

Various humane societies are playing God - and there isn't a lot one can do about it depending on the laws in the state or county. I guess microchipping our animals is the only way to prove they belong to us. However, they can be taken at any time if an owner is reported to animal control - without proof of harming the dog in any way.

Unfortunately it seems more and more of this is happening. There was just an incident in Alabama where a woman on her way to earth dog tests with her terriers was stopped by the police because he thought she had too many dogs in her truck. Luckily everything turned out OK but not before this woman was thoroughly intimidated.

[odette]

about 12 years ago i gave a young couple a tattoed pup,out of my sch 2 bitch, the wind blew down the fence,ac picked him up,said when they called no g.s.d here. i went out and there was brix! they thought i was looking to adopt, the ac said yea if no one claims him today he's mine! thays why i picked him up,i saw what quality he is so we did'nt call the number on his collar! i took my dog back, that ac was fired, so sad for the oters.

[Canopener Sally]

Let's remember this is not the norm! As a rescue volunteer, I've worked hard to return lost dogs and always check for a microchip.

I can tell you my local shelters are NOT like this, I am happy to say. There are corrupt people where ever you go. But the majority of rescues are not making any profit and have the best of intentions. These stories just end up hurting rescue efforts.

If the shelter and rescue are truly at fault here; the owner should seek legal action.

[scullysmom]

wow, I remember as a youth, my mothers rescue got a shep mix who was two weeks past her kill date. They had this shep mix for seven months, had her spayed of course. Finally about eight months into the rescue a person came in and freaked out about their Belgian Tervuren. She said that she knew the breeder simply because of her conformation, temperament and the lack of Tervuren's. I don't remember if the rescue was actually sued or not. Either way, the breeder was beyond POed when she found out her show bitch had been altered. Sometimes I guess rescues could be in the wrong, but this one did not steal someones show dog. You would think eight months after the dog disappeared someone would be happy they dog was alive. The dog had a date with death, she was housed only 10 miles from the breeder and no one ever came to find her. The rescue did not know what they had, she was listed as a collie/Shep/golden, they did not know. So sorry this happened to your client, just wanted to add this for a separate take on the rescue situation.

[D'tails]

This didn't happen in Louisville, KY, did it? Because they have laws in place to treat strays exactly as this dog and his owner was treated.

Be afraid - there are more and more laws in this country that are taking away our rights as owners of any animals. Keep an eye on local ordinances.

Various humane societies are playing God - and there isn't a lot one can do about it depending on the laws in the state or county. I guess microchipping our animals is the only way to prove they belong to us. However, they can be taken at any time if an owner is reported to animal control - without proof of harming the dog in any way.

Unfortunately it seems more and more of this is happening. There was just an incident in Alabama where a woman on her way to earth dog tests with her terriers was stopped by the police because he thought she had too many dogs in her truck. Luckily everything turned out OK but not before this woman was thoroughly intimidated.

This was not in KY. Last I heard, after having to cancel their dogs shows due to AC being given free reign to confiscate and neuter show dogs, they were sued by a kennel club and the law was overturned due to infringing on an owner's civil rights.

I read the written statement from the officer regarding the incident with the terrier exhibitor and the officer flat out stated that he pulled the woman over because of the breed of dog she had in her vehicle. He stated that he is aware of a local puppymill that has her breed. Very sad.

[fiveoclockdog]

Let's remember this is not the norm! As a rescue volunteer, I've worked hard to return lost dogs and always check for a microchip.

I can tell you my local shelters are NOT like this, I am happy to say. There are corrupt people where ever you go. But the majority of rescues are not making any profit and have the best of intentions. These stories just end up hurting rescue efforts.

If the shelter and rescue are truly at fault here; the owner should seek legal action.

Oh! It's NOT the norm! Most people are working long hours for little or no pay because they love and are committed to the animals. Unfortunately it only takes a few unethical losers to taint all the good that is done.

[CurbsideCuties]

I agree,

This is not the norm... but does seem to happen pretty often. About 10 years ago my AmStaff and Kerry Blue got out while I was @ work. Sweet Pea my Staffie was at the shelter in their "dangerous dog" area beacuse of her breed, and Jody my Kerry could not be located. Someone had taken him into their ICU area and was treating him for his severe kennel cough he supposedly had. UMM he was debarked! And they cut all of the hair off his face like a poodle because thats what they thought he was and they told me how cruel I was because he was so sick and could not see. NOBODY called me and these dogs were microchipped. It was very difficult to get the dogs back due to the extream idiocy of the people at AC.

[edderland]

this is why I tell people to personally check each shelter in the area every single day for their missing pets; the few who do get their pets back; those that don't can kiss them good bye.
Look at Petfinder and other sites; enter a breed (I have whippets) and see how few are actually the breed claimed. In over a year, there was one real whippet in my area; I went and adopted him. the others were all skinny mutts. No whippet in them at all.
Especially if it is an unusual breed, they are not gonna be identified; shelter employees and volunteers are often not experienced at all in breed identification.
Deidre