# What can this poor man do?



## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

I found a dog on CL that was missing that I had seen on ACs site.
I showed the man, he said YES, that's his dog, he went to get him, he was gone. They won't give him ANY information, expected, but the dog was neutered, and had a Microchip that they never scanned for.

Is there anything he can do?

I have never liked this place... But I thought AC was supposed to do a quick scan for a chip? It is the next city over from me, and my AC scans as soon as they pick him up.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

Here is the GORGEOUS boy in question:
http://www.beachpetpals.org/animals/detail?AnimalID=1528168









I told the man to post on CL in the lost and found section as well as pets and general and the owner may contact him. I know if someone had PROOF that I had adopted their dog, and that the dog wasn't abused or neglected I would give him back.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Isn't there some kind of rule about adopting out dogs with microchips?


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

I don't know.

This is the same shelter who adopted out a pit bull male with papers WITHOUT NEUTERING (which by law they are supposed to). I had tried to get this dog adopted, had a rescue lined up in MD, and they would not allow the rescue to pull, even with a S/N contract. Within DAYS of the dog being adopted, I saw him on Kijiji "Blue PR Pit Bull for stud $$$"
Then "Blue PR pit bull for sale/stud"
Then from the same person "I lost my blue PR pit bull, looking for a female, any age"
Then, from the same person "Looking for maltese male"
"Maltese male for stud"
"Looking for female maltese and male pit bull".
So they adopted an unaltered pit to a pet flipper. 

Yeah, I do not like this shelter, and I feel terrible for the man... He said the MC company was never alerted.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Not sure on what to do legally, but if i were that guy and some shelter adopted out my microchipped dog, i'd be raising **** right now to say the least.


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## GSDTrain (Apr 21, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Lucy DogNot sure on what to do legally, but if i were that guy and some shelter adopted out my microchipped dog, i'd be raising **** right now to say the least.


same here


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

That is what I told him. I said to call all of the contacts on the site (adoption manager, people like that), and if THAT didn't work, go there in person again, contact police to see what you can do, the city, whoever.
It must be **** to know your dog is dead, or not know who has him. I am guessing he was adopted, because they say when they have killed a dog IME.


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## Kay13411 (Jul 24, 2003)

Have him call the newspaper also.... I wouldn't stop till I was reunited with my dog.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

I'm not sure what he will do, he said the chip company told him that AC keeping the information from him is illegal, since he has PROOF it is his dog, and all it would take is a fast phone call to the new owners..


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## tnbsmommy (Mar 23, 2009)

I do hope he gets his dog back... I can honestly say after adopting Magnum from a shelter in Alabama, I had dreams where the director called me and told me his owner showed up wanting him back, and had had no idea he'd been dropped off there. Specially the more his personality has come out, and he's such a sweet, loving, big old baby whose obviously had training... I would hate to be on either side of that. A man who love his dog and wants him back or a person(or family) who adopts a pet and falls in love getting the phone call they have to return him to his rightful owner.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

I know, sad all around... Like I said, this shelter isn't known for following rules... They kept a pit who had a family lined up for MONTHS until he became cage aggressive, then killed him. Bubbles was a sweet boy out of his cage and had no aggression whatsoever, but after being stuck in that run for months, he became aggressive if someone came to his door he didn't know. 

It is very obvious this dog was not abused, he looks great, and has been properly vetted. He said he's hoping that when the new people get him vetted they will tell the vet he's adopted, and he may get scanned.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I don't think there's any law that shelters have to scan dogs for microchips or about adopting out dogs that have them. Many shelters don't even own scanners and there's no legal requirement for counties to purchase them. They're still worth doing and we've had a lot of dogs saved that way, but they're not failsafe and owners should never assume their dog isn't a shelter just because the dog is chipped.

The big thing is time frame - when did the dog come to the shelter and when did the man show up looking for his dog? If more than the shelter's hold period had elapsed between the time they got the dog and he came in then legally it was their dog at that point to adopt out or euthanize or whatever. 

Now, all that said - one would HOPE they would be cooperative about reuniting a pet with its owner but from a legal perspective, I think that's the bottom line: After 5 working days or whatever your state's rule is, the dog becomes the property of the county. And I do understand not giving out the new adopter's personal information to someone coming in asking about a dog. I mean, look at it from their perspective - if you adopted a dog that was legally available, you wouldn't want some stranger coming knocking on your door demanding "their" dog back. 

When I worked at a shelter in NC, our policy was 5 working days but I'm not sure if that was a statewide law or not. Here in KY some shelters use 5 days but I think the state law is more like 3. 

Now, if the shelter disposed of his dog inside the legal time frame for doing so then the guy should consult a lawyer because there is supposed to be some reasonable period for an owner to reclaim their pet before anything happens to them.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

I'm not sure of when he went to get his dog, but he didn't ask for the new adopters info, he asked them if they would please call the new owners and let them know what was going on, and they wouldn't, they also wouldn't inform him if they scanned him or not.

I think I will ask the shelter if they do scan, I am used to my area scanning, any animal (save for the wildlife) that my ACO's have picked up were scanned immediately, though none were chipped. 

This is what I thought, nothing can legally be done, but I had hoped these people's morale would kick in... They continue to do things like this that dissuade people from coming in, I mean, I wouldn't stop myself from rescuing an animal from them just because they aren't right, but I have heard from others who would.

I haven't heard from the owner, so I guess he hasn't heard anything new. 
The dog is still posted on their site... I am going to email asking whether he is still available, since the owner may have just asked at the front desk if they had his husky, they recently adopted out two.
All I can hope is that the dog is being loved just as much as before.


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