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

[grey]

I don't want anyone on this forum (or elsewhere) to think I would want to deny someone the return of their dog. Especially when there's a child (a girl) involved. I have thought long and hard about it, this isn't a casual decision. Not by a long shot.

I've been picking up strays, had lost dogs come to my house, and rescued abused animals for more than 10 years now.

I make every effort to find out if the animal has a home, and to reunite that animal with its home. I don't care if the home is dirt poor - I had one where the lady lived in the oldest, shabbiest singlewide trailer in the crappiest side of town, but she loved her dog - she couldn't really even afford to feed Chewbacca well, the dog looked terrible (but so did the owner). But she loved that dog, and dogs are loyal no matter what. They don't care.

Even if I think an animal was dumped, I still make the usual rounds. I was wrong once - found a dog without a collar in a WalMart parking lot. It's a favorite dumping ground. I still made flyers, I still called Animal Control and the vet. Lexa DID have a home, a happy one - her family lived not far from WalMart and she had backed out of her collar while tied in the yard - the grandkids were leaving, she wanted to go too, it seemed. It was a happy thing, and that taught me to NEVER EVER assume, no matter what I initially think.

Everything about this case tells me the parents did not want the dog, that the dog was deliberately abandoned.

1) Body language on the road, which I mentioned before. Dumped dogs have a very clear "where am I, what just happened" expression, they don't usually leave the spot for several hours. They usually trot back and forth, and look very confused.

2) He was not in the best of shape - pictures can be very deceiving. Ever see a cute house on Realtor.com, then drive by and see it's a crappyshack? I pulled eight HUGE ticks off of the little guy, and gave him three flea baths. The fleas were also large and fat, they had been there a long time. His coat is thin and ratty, and holy Mother but he STINKS. I plan to bathe him again today. He's also quite thin. I think with Momma he was an inside dog, after Momma, he was booted outside.

3) No collar. Most folks here don't bother with getting tags and shots - but if they have a dog they want, the rule here by Animal Control says to at least put a collar on them. Dumping here is considered the "nicer" alternative to going to AC - the three day before destruction hold time isn't much. A death in the woods is considered better, and at least there's a chance someone will pick him up. I consider it lazy.

4) I'm not sure WHY the guy called me on Saturday afternoon. But he did say it was his mother's dog, and she passed away. Therefore: Momma had him, they inherited a dog they may not have intended upon having. It happens a lot.

5) The man did not call me back to arrange pick-up as he said he would. I called him, hours later, and was hung up on. All subsequent calls during the weekend went unreturned. THREE DAYS I had this dog after that call. Anybody else, when I have found the owner, they came out within ten minutes flat, barring that, directly after work.

6) They had the KID call on Monday night. The kid is the one missing the dog, poor girl. That whole conversation with the man sounded listless on his end, he didn't even apologize to me - he didn't care.

7) If they gave a damn, my call last night should have prompted a call back. Any responsible owner would have said "OK, what neighborhood, we'll go out there and look." As it was... these people never even gave me a FIRST NAME. Also, the flyers were removed Saturday afternoon. I'm wondering if they are well-known (or if Momma was well-known and liked), and didn't want someone knowing the dog was missing.

As for the poor kid... I feel terrible. I didn't do the dumping, and I'm sure that since she was told he "dug out and ran away" once, (A dog that doesn't dig ) they'll just do the same later and tell her "well, he done it again." One heartbreak is better than two.

[goldfinch]

Good decision Grey.