Am Furious - Dog dumped, now they want him back?

[beccaB]

Have you looked thoroughly into your local dog ordinances? Seems to me you are not obligated to give him back. In my area there are very strict negligent and animal cruelty laws. I have taken in strays and re homed them, cats mostly, but one time an especially large dog I didn't have enough room for. People should be ashamed of themselves. Dogs are not expendable. Sorry, a soapbox of mine at the moment. Long story.

[PamNY]

I don't think you are obligated to give them the dog -- morally, anyway. Legally I have no idea.

Be sure to document what happened. I doubt they will take action, but you never know. Maybe a local rescue group could give you advice.

Do they know where you live?

[Koronin]

Do you know the stray hold time is in your area?

[Orange utopia]

I would call and ask your local ASPCA or humane society and look up the ordinances as others suggested. If you think the dog will be dumped again, which it sounds likely, I wouldn't give him back. I hate people that treat pets like they are objects to be disregarded. This is a huge monster soapbox for me as well.

[grey]

Dumping animals is a favorite passtime around here. The local animal shelter holds animals for 3 days, then they are put down. There are that many of them -it's horrible.

I will look into whether I am obligated to give him back. I really, really do not want to. Such a good point you gals have made there! Most people here are poor, I really would not expect any kind of claim to be filed.

There is no Humane Society, ASPCA, or no-kill in the area. Chattanooga has them, but they don't want animals from NW GA. There is a group of friends that rescues a handful from animal control every month and finds homes for them, and they help me from time to time since I seem to be a magnet for unwanted/lost animals. I have gone through the abandoned animal routine so many times it's just sick. I find them homes, some of them I keep (I have three dogs of my own, all abandonment cases, all are fantastic animals).

They do not know where I live, they do not know my name, even. All they have is my cell number, which is bad enough. I have their home number, and a friend with access to the nationwide database (for employment purposes). I've passed along the number, and by the end of today, I will know EVERY. THING. about them. You see, they never offered a name either. I think they are dishonest and horrible people. In these small towns, everyone knows everyone.

Momma raised the man, and a dog. I can tell you, the dog has great manners. The asshat didn't even have the sense to apologize to me. He, I guess, expected me to be fine with the whole thing.

[Orange utopia]

Good for you Grey. I actually adopted my Ollie after he was rescued from a high kill shelter in KY. The rescue group told me they have the same problem there with lots of abandoned animals. Ollie's mom was dumped when she was pregnant and she gave birth to Ollie and his 8 siblings at the shelter. They were rescued at 3 days old when they were supposed to be put down.

The rescue group who took in Ollie and his family made by monthly trips to the DC area to adopt out their rescues which is how I ended up with him.

[Blueberry]

While you're asking - you might want to see if you can collect "boarding charges" when they pick him up (which - if you do give him back - you should do somewhere not at your home). I expect having to pay might deter them. Shelters here charge for bailing out a dog - it would seem reasonable that you should be able to also. Again - not about the $$, just about making sure they don't want to get him back.

[beccaB]

Oh yeah, that's another thing. Our dog laws here were exceptionally strict up until recently. The city council changed some wording, but the fact still remains that there are laws to protect animals from neglect and abuse. Under the old dog law if the animal control officer picked up your dog, or if someone took him to the county animal shelter, and IF the owner came to get him, the owner or even the person picking him up would face a misdemeanor charge of Dog at large and be fined $500. This actually backfired and caused more crowded conditions and more euthanasia because people would not go to collect their dogs knowing how much trouble they'd be in. I agree with trying to achieve a more responsible community, but our city council has some pretty idiot policies that have backfired.