A friend of mine went into a local animal shelter that is county ran to see if their dog was picked up by animal control, it ran out from the fenced in back yard because her daughter forgot to put on the latch to the gate before she went bike riding, and she let it out to go to the bathroom. When she got to the shelter she said she was treated like a common criminal and they told her she couldn't get her dog back. She called the sheriffs office and she eventually did get her dog back but they told her that she wasn't allowed back there and that she could never get an animal from them. Her dog is a beautiful dog and is very well cared for.Should she sue them for this? Also is this illegal???
2006-08-22 09:47:58 · 24 answers · asked by angelsforanimals 3 in Pets ➔ Dogs
This never happened before but since the local animal shelter was taken over by a new group its like they are making their own rules. She even has donated money to them in the past to help them with their homeless animals.
2006-08-22 09:58:36 · update #1
This isn't the first horror story I have heard about. The sheriff did not ban her it was the shelter manager. My friend thinks that the manager wanted to keep her dog because it is a purebred Great Dane. I don't really know because I wasn't there. The County does commission this shelter, even though it is ran by an non-profit. I have heard other people complain that their animals were euthanized. I live in North Carolina.
2006-08-22 10:03:27 · update #2
My friend just called me and told me that the shelter apologized. I guess another dog that looks a lot like hers has been running wild in her area and animal control has been trying to catch it before it did any other real damage. Her dog was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She really is a great dog owner and she loves her animals. Her daughter was told to close the latch on the gate no matter what. Duke, the dog has never been loose before and He was only five or six houses away from her when the animal control officer thought they caught public enemy #1. It was a misunderstanding but I still find it hard to believe that they can make such a bad assumption about a person just because she owns the same breed. The animal shelter manager called personally and told her to come to the shelter freely. They even wanted to return the reclaim fee and my friend told them to keep it because her dog was loose. He is a gentle giant. Thank you everyone for answering. I am enlightened.
2006-08-22 12:23:26 · update #3
I know private businesses can bar people pretty much at will (it might depend on the state); the old "Right to refuse service..." sign. But for a public building, I believe they would have to show cause.
I also think it was illegal for them to refuse to return her dog. That dog is her property, and unless they have evidence of abuse (enough evidence to bring charges) they have no cause to refuse. That is assuming she was willing to pay any fees and has proof that the dog was hers.
If it is important to her, she should contact the director or whoever runs/oversees the shelter and talk with them directly. Explain that she was treated badly and was refused her dog (without cause). If they claim there was cause for the refusal, she should demand that they provide evidence to that effect and if they cannot provide evidence they should remove any 'black mark' from her record. I am not sure what she could sue for, since she got her dog back, I guess she could ask for an apology and for her 'record' to be cleaned.
PS - It occurs me that many people who work at shelters tend to be somewhat fanatical. They are good people, who love animals, and get very angry if they believe someone is abusing animals. But, the byproduct of that dedication is that they can be suspicious and judgmental. I wonder if your friend ran into one such person.
2006-08-22 10:11:18 · answer #1 · answered by Wundt 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Is it illegal to ban someone...? No. Ordinary citizens are banned from lots of different public buildings.
A good citizen? Yes, good citizens can be banned from publicly owned buildings.
Should she sue for this? No. It doesn't sound like she incurred any damages. If she had not been able to retrieve the dog through some negligence or discrimination on their part then her damages might be the cost of a replacement dog.
Is this illegal? From what was said in the description I did not see any illegal activity. However, the events do not offer any explanation for why "she was treated like a common criminal." Perhaps there was some illegal activity that is not disclosed.
If she feels wronged in some way, she should talk to an attorney. However, you should suggest that she limit her discussion to a free consultation and not pay for any further work. If it is a good case then the attorney will be willing to invest his or her own time and out-of-pocket expenses to be awarded a judgement for the two of them.
2006-08-22 10:14:02 · answer #2 · answered by tke999 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is not legal, she should definately get a lawyer! At least it's not legal in Texas. A similar situation occured in Cedar Hill, TX about a year ago. Only the ending was not as happy, the pound actually euthanized this woman's dog for NO reason. The dog had only been in the shelter for 1 day. The owner sued the shelter and the city and won a very hefty settlement.
It's horrible that they treated your friend this way. I'm so glad that they were at least able to get the dog back!
2006-08-22 09:59:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, unfortunately this is legal. Most local animal shelters are not "public", but privately owned. Even county ran shelters are sometimes only county funded. If the owner of the shelter felt that your friend was not a good pet owner, they could have resisted when she went to pick up her pet. Also it would be completely within their rights to forbid her from getting another pet. The shelter where I live has a policy that if an animal is ever picked up by their staff , their owner can never adopt a pet from them. Some people are just unlucky, but policy is policy.
2006-08-22 10:08:54 · answer #4 · answered by bme79 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it's not illegal. And I'm not sure that an animal shelter is a public building. If it's run by the town then it's a government building. If it's a privately owned place then it's not public either. The people who run the building have the right to refuse entry to anyone that they wish. Also she has no case for a law suit. She would have to prove that she lost something. She got her dog back. So there isn't much she could do about it.
2006-08-22 09:57:55 · answer #5 · answered by Boober Fraggle 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Depends. If the shelter was run by SPCA it is a private org. and can restrict admittance unless performing as a contractor to the county for shelter services. If it owned/operated by the county or city the answer would be no. Not without cause anyway.
A "heart attack" letter from a lawyer will usually make the petty little bureaucrat see the error of their ways.
2006-08-22 09:57:40 · answer #6 · answered by Larry T 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They sound like jerks....
But they do have a point...my friend lost there dog and immediately called police after not being able to find it.
The dog eventually went about a half mile away and just jumped into someones car at home depot.
The police was contacted and the dog was returned ...along with a $65 ticket for "dog at large".
They probably felt that she was negligent for not caring for the dog better and the she didn't deserve it.
I would chaulk it up to a lesson learned and be thankfull that it didn't turn out worse.
They're jerks though ...I agree
2006-08-22 10:00:03 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I doubt she could sue them. I don't have any idea why a animal shelter would act this way. a animal shelter is to help animals. And to help a loving owner find there pet and return it home should be on the top of the list of why they are a animal shelter. that must of been a terrible experience for your friend.I'm glad she was able to get her dog back.
2006-08-22 09:56:14 · answer #8 · answered by cin_ann_43 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, its not. Even if it IS county run and a public place, you can be banned from there. If they get her dog again, she does have a right to get her dog back from them, even if they say she is not allowed in there. But, think about it. The sheriff was the one who told her she couldn't go back there, and technically the Sherriff's offices are run by the county...so...dont you kind of think that if they are the county they are allowed to ban her from a county run place?
2006-08-22 09:57:33 · answer #9 · answered by greenoreo14 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not at all, far from it. Real estate is property in the eyes of the law. You can restrict someone from your property, bought and owned. If one chooses to. Often you'll see these areas with no trespassing signs and such. Perphaps she wasn't as angelic as she said she was. Maybe she got out of hand to get her dog back. I'd have parents or friends come to retrieve the animal instead.
2006-08-22 09:53:53 · answer #10 · answered by Answerer 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋