Although your sister is to blame as well, it sounds like it is mostly her husband's fault. If he sits on the couch all day and doesn't work and she is out working her butt off, then he should be the one to look after Maverick. In our house, if everyone is away and I am home alone and I see Belle without food or water, it is my responsibility to fill it. And not only that, but Maverick is his dog, he was given as a gift. It is pretty bad when he is too lazy to even put a dog in a crate when he leaves. Somebody should knock some sense into this guy. No offence, but he sounds like a low-life to me.

But when Maverick was hit by a car and in such condition, he should have been taken to the vet right away. Pretty irresponsible if you ask me.

In my opinion, they don't deserve to have a dog, or any animal for that matter. If I were you I'd have the nerve to just take him without asking, but that can cause a great amount of problems. If you try a soft approach then maybe she will feel better to give him up, but it sounds like they need to have it laid out straight to them about how you feel and how poorly they are treating Maverick. I believe this is called animal abuse. If they don't give a care about their dog then it shouldn't be too hard to take him out of their hands, unless her husband just wants to cause a problem.

I think that if they say no, you should tell them that you can take legal action about this because it is animal abuse. It may sound mean to do that to your sister, but it would be worth it if Maverick got a caring home.

By the way, Maverick is an ADORABLE dog. I love him.