Would You Give An Adopted Dog Back?

[Daisy.Tea]

Hmmm it's a hard one :/ My first reaction was yes definitely I would give it back and then I think well if you couldn't be bothered to chip the dog and the "well in 7 years it never left the property" comment just shows that well it did this day and maybe other days that you didn't notice. As Wreckit Whippet said it was lucky it wasn't euthed and then who'd be to blame? I recently moved house and the first thing I did the day after was change the dogs chip details and then my drivers license.

Bottom line is yes I would give it back but I'd be dirty that the owner was so stupid.

I agree with you. I'm on the fence and it would depend on the situation. I think everyone has learnt a lesson here of some sort.

[Pailin]

In this instance I think I would be inclined to return the dog... It would depend on the voracity of the story and how mitigating it would sounds though. People can get very attached in a short time frame, especially if there may be children involved as well...

A similar thing happened in Tasmania about a year ago to a friend of my SIL's. This is her story as shared on a different board (Hoars is an acronym within the group):

My family adopted a dog from the pound, but the original owner just threatened my life and took it back

With lots of great advice from hoars, our family adopted an older dog from the local pound a week ago. He was a stray who had been hit by a car 6 weeks ago. No microchipping, no collar, not desexed. No one came to claim him in all that time.

He had a lovely temperament and was great with the kids. We took him to the puppy parlour for a spruce up (which he loved!) and had booked him fortnightly appointments well into the new year. He was booked for booster vaccinations this week at the vet and we had a highly recommended animal behaviourist booked to come to our house to help with his tendency to jump and get a bit nippy (his only issues). We also had full pet insurance paid up.

He’s been walked twice a day since he’s been with us and this morning we (being myself and the dog) were just walking home when a guy came up behind me and asked me where I got the dog. He knelt down, said a name that wasn’t my dog’s name and the dog leapt into his arms. I told him we’d adopted the dog from the pound a week ago but he said that he didn’t believe me, that I’d stolen the dog and that he was going to call his girlfriend and mates and f***ing get me. By some stroke of f***ing luck I was standing outside the vet surgery at the time and I raced inside with the dog. They locked the door, put us in the back room and called the police while he tried to break down the door and screamed abuse.

The vet was awesome and explained that we had done nothing wrong and that we were entitled to keep the dog. The cops said the same thing. But the thing is, I have little kids and this guy lives very, very, close to me. In fact, I don’t feel remotely safe anymore here. We couldn’t keep the dog because if he saw us again on our walk I don’t know what would happen.

Hoars, I thought this guy was going to f***ing kill me. He might well have if the vet staff hadn’t been so on the ball. I’m a crying, shaking mess.

We returned our beloved little boy to the pound. They were so kind to us and wanted to refund all the money we had paid. We said no. They want us to look at another dog soon but I don’t think I could ever go through that uncertainty again. We gave a dog a loving home and I had my life threatened for it. The ‘owner’ is now required to purchase him back off them. Like he’s a piece of meat.

My girls are 2 and 5 and they adored this little dog. It was our first family pet and I don’t know how I’m going to explain to him that he is gone. We are very frank and forthright in this house and I think that will help them.

And hoars, I loved him. Even in that short time I loved him. He was our forever dog and we were so grateful to have him. He was here, in part, to help guard our home at night after an attempted break in. Now I have no dog to guard my children, and, ironically, just having the dog has now put us in the dangerous position that this man may come and find us. This is a small town. Easy to do. I can’t stop my head from snapping up every time a car goes past. I’m a mess.

I have half an hour until we pick my 5 yo up from school. He was her 5th birthday present. Her forever dog and her mate.

Hold me hoars, this is going to suck.

She was an absolute mess thanks to the experience and was so traumatised by it. Very difficult situation made worse by the previous lady owner playing the victim role and losing her shit on the pound's FB page, blaming everyone but herself for what had occurred. Absolute feral trash they were.

[Chocolatelover]

For me it would depend on the dogs life with his/her previous owner. If by saying that the dog had never left the property for 7 years meant she never walked the dog or took it anywhere with her then I would be reluctant to give the dog back. But if I knew for a fact that the dog was a cherished family member then I would probably find it hard to keep the dog as I would be devastated if it happened to me.

Too many things don't add up in the story for me though. The media always like drama to sell stories so often miss out many important facts (or make them up) as one-sided stories are way more interesting than a balanced view. I would never ever leave my dog with someone who I didn't trust to notify me the second my dog went missing. It is easy to call pounds and spread the word on Facebook from abroad yet the story didn't mention what lengths she had gone to to search for the dog. It is very sad for her and hopefully she will learn from her mistakes - microchip and leave the dog with someone trustworthy or in a kennel. Many people I know opt for the cheapest option - I have been asked to "pop" over and feed a dog for two weeks and by people I only knew to say hello to I said no but offered to have her stay with us instead which she did.

Hope this story doesn't turn people off from adopting

[disintegratus]

My sister and I discussed this at great length after we adopted our rotty x from the shelter as she was an unchipped stray.

I think it depends on circumstances, I like to think I would at least try to be impartial and base my decision on what's best for the dog.

Generally speaking, no I probably wouldn't give the dog back, and definitely not if it had been dumped at the pound. In this particular circumstance, I think I'd end up letting the new owners keep the dog, because I would kill whoever had been housesitting for me and not bothered to inform me that my dog had gone missing, and I'm pretty sure they don't let you have pets in jail.

[Staffyluv]

Pailin that is terrible.. I hope that she went to the police but I would also understand if she didn't.

disintegratus - that is basically how I feel about it..

It isn't the fault of the new family that they were looking and adopted a stray, unchipped dog from the RSPCA - but on FB, the thing that got me most was people saying what horrible people they were for not giving the dog back.

Why should they?

No one knows their side of the story - they could have been looking for months or trying to replace a lost (or passed away) pet for kids...

The one at fault here is the original owner for not chipping her dog and the pet sitter for losing the dog and not doing enough to locate it before the owner came home..

The new owners have done nothing wrong and are well within their rights to keep the dog.

We all know how quickly a dog weeds its way into our hearts and homes - they have had it for nearly 2 weeks (I was smitten with Zig in a day)..

Thanks everyone for the other points of view - some of you are wonderful, saying you would give the dog back and I dare say I would (if I hadn't bonded with it)... But I wouldn't feel obligated to give it back (based on what was written), it would be purely out of sympathy for the old owner..

[lilypily]

This is in my area. The dog was registered but not chipped. I would absolutley give the dog back. It has a loving home of 7yrs. I'd go back to the pound and rescue a poor dog who really has no home.

Yes the dog should of been chipped, but I don't think that means she has to lose her dog. As in every news story, there are so many details that we don't know.

[~Anne~]

How long has Vic had mandatory microchipping?

I've only ever adopted one dog from Victoria. That was 9.5 years ago. He was not chipped because it wasn't compulsory at the time. I chipped him after his adoption because NSW had had compulsory chipping for about 4 years at that time.

My cat, Molly, was never chipped. She was born before compulsory chipping came in NSW. By law I did not have to chip her because she was born prior to its introduction. She died only a couple of years ago without ever being microchipped. I was well within the law. I often go away for lengthy periods and my animals are in the care of others. I trust my sitters however I too could have ended up in a similar situation to this woman. I can't imagine the mean spirited comments I would receive on this forum if it was me trying to claim back my beloved Molly.

As for fault. I'm mystified why there has to be a 'fault' on anyone's behalf. I'm also amazed that people then judge openly on what they perceive is fault. I'm even more amazed, probably flabbergasted, that people are saying they would decide if the dog was well looked after or not before deciding they would give it back. By whose standards are we talking about here?!

Seriously folks, what the hell is this world coming to!

I'm not sure I'd come to threats to get one of my dogs back but I can tell you now that I would fight my hardest to get back any of my animals if they somehow ended up in another home without me personally giving them away!

Edited November 3, 2013 by ~Anne~

[~Anne~]

And as for bonding with the dog in 9 days. What of the owner who bonded with their pet over a 7 year period!

[Staffyluv]

And as for bonding with the dog in 9 days. What of the owner who bonded with their pet over a 7 year period!

That is devastating for the original owner - I haven't said anywhere that she isn't hard done by in all this.. She is..

But the sad fact in this case, that so many seem to be overlooking, is the new owners of a dog that was considered a stray and through all the right legal channels, ended up in their home..

What about their rights??

I feel for the original owner, I really do.. The only people who did the wrong thing here are the original owner for not chipping her dog (in 7 years) and the dog sitter..

The new owners have done nothing wrong.

I honestly can't imagine being in either owners position..

[Bjelkier]

In this case yes I would return the dog.

[Staff'n'Toller]

How long has Vic had mandatory microchipping?

I've only ever adopted one dog from Victoria. That was 9.5 years ago. He was not chipped because it wasn't compulsory at the time. I chipped him after his adoption because NSW had had compulsory chipping for about 4 years at that time.

My cat, Molly, was never chipped. She was born before compulsory chipping came in NSW. By law I did not have to chip her because she was born prior to its introduction. She died only a couple of years ago without ever being microchipped. I was well within the law. I often go away for lengthy periods and my animals are in the care of others. I trust my sitters however I too could have ended up in a similar situation to this woman. I can't imagine the mean spirited comments I would receive on this forum if it was me trying to claim back my beloved Molly.

As for fault. I'm mystified why there has to be a 'fault' on anyone's behalf. I'm also amazed that people then judge openly on what they perceive is fault. I'm even more amazed, probably flabbergasted, that people are saying they would decide if the dog was well looked after or not before deciding they would give it back. By whose standards are we talking about here?!

Seriously folks, what the hell is this world coming to!

I'm not sure I'd come to threats to get one of my dogs back but I can tell you now that I would fight my hardest to get back any of my animals if they somehow ended up in another home without me personally giving them away!

There are a couple of loopholes in the mandated microchipping here. I'm not sure if they still exist, but one was BYB pups, and the other was registered breeders who didn't want to chip their young pups.

It's very rare though, that when being desexed, owners elect not to chip at that time, so perhaps the dog was not desexed? Had no rego tag and no ID reportedly. Was kept for the legally required amount of pound time and then had vet work done and adopted...

[kelpiecuddles]

I think from recollection there is(or was) a loophole that applied to farm dogs. It says the dog was registered with the council so if microchipping was a registration requirement it would have had to be done so for whatever reason the dog must have been exempt.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

The article says the dog "Mia" was being looked after in Drummond, but was found in Ballarat. I'm confused. That's an hour's drive away.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[~Anne~]

Their rights by law are one thing but moral rights are another. Id rather live by values and morals. Using the law as a reason why the dog should not be returned is using the law as a scapegoat to defend selfishness.

Morally the dog belongs to the original owner.

[~Anne~]

The article says the dog "Mia" was being looked after in Drummond, but was found in Ballarat. I'm confused. That's an hour's drive away.

Someone may have picked the dog up whilst in the middle of a journey and then dropped the dog off at a pound or whatever at the end of the journey. It's very common.

[Dame Aussie]

The article says the dog "Mia" was being looked after in Drummond, but was found in Ballarat. I'm confused. That's an hour's drive away.

We used to have people come in with strays they had found over an hour away. They'd pick it up and bring it to their local pound, not the area where they found the dog. Stupid, but people do it.

[Rascalmyshadow]

The dog should be returned to the original owner under the circumstances, to keep it IMO is morally and ethically wrong.

Everybody that thinks the original owner shouldn't get the dog back just because it isn't microchipped should be ashamed, if it was well cared for in a loving home and bonded with its owners they deserve it back, they made a mistake like most other humans do on a daily basis doesn't mean they should lose their dog.

[Dame Aussie]

People also need to remember that no form of ID is 100% fail safe.

If this dog had been chipped but it wasn't picked up on the scanner for some reason would it be different?

I think it's extremely unfair to say that just because the dog wasn't chipped it means the owners don't deserve to get it back.

What about the dog? I'd say it would prefer to be with its family of seven years to a new person it doesn't even know yet.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

The article says the dog "Mia" was being looked after in Drummond, but was found in Ballarat. I'm confused. That's an hour's drive away.

We used to have people come in with strays they had found over an hour away. They'd pick it up and bring it to their local pound, not the area where they found the dog. Stupid, but people do it.

I would have thought so too... I used to live in Daylesford (halfway between Drummond and Ballarat) and the RSPCA shelter for that area is in Ballarat.

But it says in the article that a ranger found her in Ballarat. She wasn't brought in.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[Staffyluv]

Their rights by law are one thing but moral rights are another. Id rather live by values and morals. Using the law as a reason why the dog should not be returned is using the law as a scapegoat to defend selfishness.

Morally the dog belongs to the original owner.

Morals are different in everyone's eyes - what one person thinks is morally acceptable, another may think differently (from person to person, culture to culture).

Perhaps the new owners think as they followed the correct course to adopt a dog that morally they think they are the rightful owners as well??

Who knows?

As I said, it is a heartbreaking situation for the original owner..