What do you do when someone has your dog?

[StarandBratsmom]

What a terrible situation, I am so sorry you are in it. Dogs are considered property in the United States, I am 99% positive of that. I would try and go to the police. She IS your dog and I'm sure she misses you and your dad's farm. Doesn't that animal shelter check when they get strays in the local paper for owners looking for lost dogs or lost dog reports? Honestly, that's a horrible system if not, I know my shelter does this. I can't suggest much but you could possibly go to the police with this and get results.

That is what baffles me, Harpo was also taken to the animal shelter, we found out on the same exact day, but in a totally different town, and they looked in in the lost/found section on craigslist. The other town, where Gabbie was, didn't.

[StarandBratsmom]

Gabbie wasn't microchipped, but I this is a lesson learned, we are now believers in it. We have gone to the animals shelter, the managers are so against us contacting the new owners. That is part of what is so frustrating about it.

[Twisterdog]

I understand your frustration and sadness. However, let me tell the other side of the story, from a shelter worker's perspective.

Shelters and animal controls have certain rules they follow about picking up stray animals and adopting them out. In my county, a stray dog must be held for five days. If the owner doesn't claim the dog during that time, the dog becomes the legal property of the city/county, to do with what they choose. This is a city and/or county law. The city, via their Animal Control branch, can legally euthanize or adopt the animal. Your first step, before you do anything, is to research and know your local laws. If your area, for example, had a law on the books stating that a stray will be held for four days, then becomes the property of the county ... then that is the law. And if you did not claim your dog during that period of time, it is legally not your dog any longer.

And there are valid reasons for this. A shelter has to operate, has to be able to adopt animals out in a timely manner. If they cannot do this, they becaome too full to take in other animals, and many animals end up being euthanized, simply for lack of space. There has to be a legal time period, it can't be vague. It's the only way a shelter can operate, and if shelters didn't operate, hundreds of thousands of animals would die in this country - animals which are now saved and adopted by shelters.

Also, there is the point of view of the family who adopted the dog. I don't know how long they have had the dog, but sometimes people get very attached to an animal very quickly, especially children. These people did nothing wrong - they went to a shelter and chose to save the life of an animal there. They were told the animal was a stray and needed a home, and they adopted her. Perhaps they have children who love her dearly already.

I feel your pain, I truly do, but I have to say that this just might be one of those horribly hard lessons in life. Always have a collar with ID on your pet. Always get your pet microchipped. And always check surrounding area's shelters for your lost pet. Continue checking all shelters within a day's drive, every day.

It's not the shelter's fault. It's not the adopters' fault. They (I presume) followed the rules and the laws.

[StarandBratsmom]

I understand your frustration and sadness. However, let me tell the other side of the story, from a shelter worker's perspective.

Shelters and animal controls have certain rules they follow about picking up stray animals and adopting them out. In my county, a stray dog must be held for five days. If the owner doesn't claim the dog during that time, the dog becomes the legal property of the city/county, to do with what they choose. This is a city and/or county law. The city, via their Animal Control branch, can legally euthanize or adopt the animal. Your first step, before you do anything, is to research and know your local laws. If your area, for example, had a law on the books stating that a stray will be held for four days, then becomes the property of the county ... then that is the law. And if you did not claim your dog during that period of time, it is legally not your dog any longer.

And there are valid reasons for this. A shelter has to operate, has to be able to adopt animals out in a timely manner. If they cannot do this, they becaome too full to take in other animals, and many animals end up being euthanized, simply for lack of space. There has to be a legal time period, it can't be vague. It's the only way a shelter can operate, and if shelters didn't operate, hundreds of thousands of animals would die in this country - animals which are now saved and adopted by shelters.

Also, there is the point of view of the family who adopted the dog. I don't know how long they have had the dog, but sometimes people get very attached to an animal very quickly, especially children. These people did nothing wrong - they went to a shelter and chose to save the life of an animal there. They were told the animal was a stray and needed a home, and they adopted her. Perhaps they have children who love her dearly already.

I feel your pain, I truly do, but I have to say that this just might be one of those horribly hard lessons in life. Always have a collar with ID on your pet. Always get your pet microchipped. And always check surrounding area's shelters for your lost pet. Continue checking all shelters within a day's drive, every day.

It's not the shelter's fault. It's not the adopters' fault. They (I presume) followed the rules and the laws.

I understand the shelter's perspective, I am majoring in Business, and I know that the rules and regulations help things run smoothly. I also know Gabbie is the type of dog you can EASILY get attached to. I don't blame the shelter at all and I can see why they are being bitter with us. they are probably sick of us calling them not to mention other concerned people who have seen our ads trying to help us find Gabbie.

[kuhio98]

I would continue to communicate with the Shelter manager. Show him/her the proof that the dog is yours. Ask them how it can be resolved. Let them know that you are considering going to the media to plead your case. Let them know that if they won't contact the new owners, you will have no other choice but to contact the local newspaper or other media in hopes that the new owners will see the story (or friends of the new owners will). Don't bad mouth the Shelter if you're interviewed. Explain how the dog was lost and how hard you searched for Gabbie and how badly you want her back.

[Emeraldgreen]

What a tough situation.
If it were me and I was where you are at now, after trying hard to communicate with the shelter to no avail, I would try to reach out to the people who have your dog. I know you don't know where they live or what their name is but they might live in the town where they adopted Gabbie and you could plaster the streets and store windows with posters with her picture. I doubt they know that you are out there looking for her and maybe if they saw one of your posters and learned the story, they might decide themselves that she should be returned to you. And who knows, maybe she isn't working out that well in her new family (but it sounds like she is pretty easy going and would fit in anywhere).
Do you have any videos of her that you could upload to youtube or something? If so, you could add a link to a video onto the poster of her playing with your neice and watching over the horses and chickens and if her new family sees a poster, they could view the video which might help them see that she is definitely the same dog with her movements and stuff rather than just a photo. And it might help them have a better connection to how much she means to you and your family if they see her with you guys.
And as Kuhio mentioned, the media could help too. Just placing an ad with her photo in the paper of the town she was adopted in might help get the attention of the family who has her now. And neighbours of the family might spot the posters or the ad and let the family know about it. Placing the ad in a prominent section, not just in the lost and found classifieds because this family may not be looking there, but in the letter to the editor section or something where they might spot it.
Also, putting up posters in neighboring towns might help if they live one town over etc..

I know it's true, they could be attached to her at this point but they have only had her for a month and she was with your family for years. Hopefully if they find out that you are missing her, they might return her to your dad.

Whatever happens, I hope that Gabbie goes on to have a good and safe life.

[Taz_Zoee]

This thread got me to thinking.....what if Taggarts original owner (if he even had one) came forward and had a similar situation? If I'd only had Taggart for a month or two I might be inclined to return him. As long as I knew the other family was missing him and was a good home for him I'd want to reunite him with his family. Sure it would hurt to give him up, but I just think about how the other family (like you) would feel with their loved dog gone.
I would definitely encourage getting her microchipped, but I'm sure you already know that.

I just hope you can find this family. Because like Emeraldgreen said, they may not even know she had a good loving home before she got to the shelter. And that you are looking for her.

Good luck! And I hope to see an update to this thread soon that Gabbie is home.