So Judy from the Board of Directors comes with me to get Nookie while the Operations Director takes the people to her office. Judy let me watch from the hall while she carried Nookie in. The three kids that were with the woman said "yup, that's him" and the woman was nodding. Nookie kept turning his head to try to see me and he had no reaction towards them. Then all of a sudden the woman bursts out crying like a lunatic and Judy takes him out of the office. I talked to Judy further and she said we need to find out the exact day we took him in. They lost him on May 25th and we got him in NASTY condition. She said that if it was less than a week that he was lost before we got him, then there was no way in hell that they would get the dog back because that wouldn't be enough time for him to get in such sorry shape. We found his paperwork and we received him on June 1st, exactly one week after he had gotten lost. I honestly don't think he got in that bad condition from just a week. We had to cut this nasty bandana off him that was almost getting embedded into his neck. And we were pulling out hundreds and hundreds of weeds that looked like they'd been in his fur forever. We also had to cut off a good portion of hair.

So Judy told me we'd have to meet tomorrow (Monday) and figure out if its an abuse or neglect case and take it from there. I started crying again because I have his appointment on Wednesday that I was scared to death of him missing. She kept reassuring me. So I go back to the phone banks looking like crap. My eyes were filled with tears and a lot of the telephone volunteers were over consoling me and got in trouble because they got a live camera shot of the phone banks with a lot of empty seats.

So we were finally off air for good at 2:30 and I just walked around in a daze. We were so busy that I had to get back to work but I couldn't concentrate. All the volunteers and staff and people who I had no clue who they were kept pulling me aside and asking me if I was okay because they'd heard what happened. Then I heard they told the President of the Board the situation (he's a real .... I can't think of any word that describes him that wouldn't have to be censored). At first he said that I needed to give the dog back right away, but thank GOD the shelter manager talked sense into him.

So then at like 6:00, the shelter manager grabs me and asks if I have a minute. She told me as far as she's concerned, its BS that we'd have to meet tomorrow to discuss what to do. She said that he's my dog and its my choice and my choice only. She said he would be dead if it wasn't for me and I could tell the "owner" that. I got instant relief. I don't know why no one told me this earlier!!!! But I was so emotionally drained by then that all I could do was tell her thank you about 10000 times.

So this woman is coming into work tomrorow with her "proof" and I'm going to tell her my honest opinion which is that I've invested a lot mentally, phsically, and financially into this dog. I feel like I can give him much better care and I can't release him to someone who I feel won't give him the medical and emotional attention he needs. Besides that, he is legally mine. We followed the law and kept him 3 days and filed a found animal report. If you have an animal for more than 3 days here, it becomes legally yours.