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.