She claims our dog was picked up by animal control, but he was not. I checked. She claims she rightfully adopted him when he was picked up. I have proof of ownership of the dog. Does he belong to her or us?
2007-12-06 14:43:08 · 28 answers · asked by happygolucky 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
This is simple, call the Sheriff, tell them what is going on. One of the deputies will go to her house with you. She will be asked for proof of adoption and you will be asked for proof of ownership. Make sure you take all your proof and any pictures of the dog, if you have any. If you have your proof and she can't provide any from animal contol or the shelter, the deputy will take the dog and release it to you. She could try to take you to court to get the dog back, but most likely wouldn't because she has no proof.
Do not try to deal with this on your own or things could get out of hand or go bad.
2007-12-06 14:54:08 · answer #1 · answered by Short Shot 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, it depends.. how did you "check" to see if they adopted it?.. Bringing them to court is really the only thing you can do.. they will need to prove to the court that they did it legally.. if they did they will need the paperwork. The problem with "checking" by calling.. is that animal control is not perfect. In many cases they don't even check.. I know plenty of people that called and asked if there were calls from someone who found their dog.. and were told no.. only to find an ad in the paper the same day.. the people tell them they called animal control first thing.. without a license number on the dog, animal control would not be able to tell you with certainty.
However, if you bring it to court, and they have no proof of adoption there is a good chance you will get the dog back.. depending on how much proof you have that you were looking for it.. They can easily say (although it would make their case even less likely at that point) they found it as a stray, and had it for the required amount of time and tried to find an owner. If you have proof that you put an ad in the paper..
The best thing for you would be a witness that saw them take your dog..
2007-12-06 16:25:49 · answer #2 · answered by kaijawitch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if she's telling the truth that the dog was picked up by animal control, then the dog would have had to either been in the pound for a set amount of time before they're allowed to adopt it out (usually 7 days). If there's no microchip they can adopt the dog out as they have no means of finding the owners (but again they would usually wait for 7 days for the owner to show).
If she's not telling the truth and she picked up your dog from your yard then of course tell the police. Even if she found him as a stray dog wandering the streets you can take the dog back so long as you have the proof of ownership.
Just contact your local animal authorities (sorry, from Australia- here they're called RSPCA). They (should) have the legal authority to take the dog back.
Good luck!
2007-12-06 15:04:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can show pictures and prove that he is your dog then yes you probably have rights over him. But you should also prove in some kind of way that you were missing him and looking for him... such as a journal or missing dog ads.
She needs to have proof that she paid for the dog and then get proof that he was picked up by animal control. You may waiver your right to a dog if you don't claim him by a certain time. ? I would check on that and see if that made a difference.
Take her to court!!! Or no wait take skydance advice first... she's got a good idea. Let the police handle her.
2007-12-06 15:06:12 · answer #4 · answered by get_it_right 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since you have proof of ownership and AC said they didn't pick the dog up then you are the one in the right. To be sure, call animal control over to speak with her and you and ask if they have the dog in their records. Check with shelters as well, if the dog was picked up by a shelter and adopted out then no, you are SOL.
2007-12-06 14:51:51 · answer #5 · answered by Scelestus Unus 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I don't know where you live but in NZ dogs must be held for 7 days by the councils before being passed to any new owner. If the dog is micro chipped then your info should be against the dogs name however if your dog is only registered to you then you will have to prove ownership by use of photographic proof. You may need the police to intervene or even take the matter to court.
2007-12-06 15:02:26 · answer #6 · answered by hob 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
call the police..
if she adopted the dog legally from animal control she would have papers to prove it and can easily show these to the police.. if not - the dog would return to you.. its that simple
if your dog has been missing for a period of time it is possible that she now legally owns it (is their an SPCA in the area??? - an unclaimed dog that is turned into the SPCA becomes their property legally after 72 hours - as such if you didnt get the dog before that time the people could have adopted it - but yes they would have legal papers to prove it...)
first step is to call the police.
also when your dog went missing did you file a LOST dog report with the local shelter or animal control??? that will be helpful if you did
2007-12-06 14:57:24 · answer #7 · answered by CF_ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you have proof of ownership, he belongs to you. If she adopted him from animal control, there will be paperwork to prove that. However, previous ownership and a lack of your signature signing over the animal will prevail. The dog is yours.
2007-12-06 15:00:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call police NOW and show your proof.... as suggested, pictures...shot records....spay/neuturing licence etc. go over with police and WAIT in the car then follow what they say to do.
Then come back with Pup and let us all know what is going ON iquiring minds want to know.
DO NOT wait attempt to get the dog back NOW so that court has a police report of this if worse comes to worse. Move now longer you wait the hard it can be!
Been there done that got the tee shirt and the dog!
2007-12-06 15:04:52 · answer #9 · answered by skydancer_2489 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's a great question. We found a dog about two months ago. We put signs out, posted it on Craig's list, had her checked to see if she had a chip, and posted a flyer with the local vet. The vet's assitant told us that if the dog wasn't claimed in 10 days that the dog was legally ours. I still feel really bad that we haven't found her home, but my family has really become attached to her. I still wonder what will happen if we find her previous owner. I'm sure we would give her back, but my son would be really upset.
2007-12-06 14:55:40 · answer #10 · answered by Deb8er 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋