Are you legally allowed to give someone an animal you find stray?

Question

A friend at work had a dog on at her door two nights ago, and the dog was well cared for, even waiting at the door with his paws up so she could wipe them off before he went into her house. Someone obviously didn't drop him off, because of how young and wonderfully house-broken he is. She put an ad up yesterday, and someone called and said if you don't find the owner, will you give him to me? and she told me today she's probably going to give the dog to this stranger.

Now it's only been a day and a half, so when does she have the right to give this dog a home? And if the original owner calls later in the week, what rights does he have?

Being a pet owner, I couldn't handle the thought of someone finding my pet and immediately giving it a home and not giving me enough time to find him.

I live in PA and she said that legally she can do whatever she wants with the dog after 24 hours.

Answer 1

No - in the USA this is not legal and your friend can actually be charged with THEFT!!!

first of all when you find a pet you must call the pound, SPCA, or whomever deals with the strays in your area... they will file a FOUND pet report which will cover you in the event an owner finds you with his/her dog. THEN if its a mixed breed you must wait at least 72 hours (in most states its 2 weeks for the public so I am not sure about PA, but shelters themselves are only required to hold strays 72 hours - most hold them lots longer unless they are in pain or mean)
if its a purebred - the hold would be a minimum of 10 days (again it might infact be longer for members of the public)

really the pet should be taken to a VET to be scanned for Microchip or checked for a tattoo..

if your friend re-homes this dog that is NOT legally hers - she can be charged with theft as can the person who takes the dog...
It doesnt sound like your friend has reported finding the dog in the first place - as such how is an owner going to know where to look???

the wait period begins from the time/day the FOUND report is placed.. not actually from the time the dog was found..

Answer 2

Did she try having it checked for a microchip? I live in the country and have at least a couple of strays each year. I try to call around the neighborhood to see if anyone knows who it belongs to. I usually try putting an ad in the local paper. I also call the local pound to see if anyone has been looking for it. If nobody claims it within a week I take it to pound so hopefully the rightfull owners will come looking for it. I would hope if either of my dogs wander off whoever finds them would try to contact me, but my dogs at least have collars with my phone number on them.

Answer 3

It IS the previous owner's fault for not keeping the dog in, and if it ran away, after a few days the owner would no longer have any rights to the dog at a shelter. I would give the dog about 3-4 days for the owner to reclaim it, after that, I'd find it a new home if I didn't want to keep it, that what a shelter would do.

Answer 4

Depends on where you live.

I live in Michigan.. and the last time I called Vector control AND the pound (as they are seperate places here).. I was asked if I was going to keep her at the house or if we needed someone to pick it up.. I said we'd keep it at the house for awhile to try and find the owner.. they said that we could bring it in to them at any point.. ( we gave it one month and tried to bring her in and they said the dog was considered ours now so.. we kept it and found another home for her)

You are going to need to check your local laws.. call your local animal control.