Dusty's story

 yeah we have only one ACO for our entire county - small wonder the only shelter here gives the animals just two days to be claimed before they put them to sleep - we called him for a pack of stray dogs on our road last year and he never even showed up. thankfully we have a rescue group trying to gather donations for a better facility, but our officials are against it....

 Yea, turns out there is only 1 ACO now, the other one was fired awhile ago.

Latest info....ACO went out but went to the wrong address, he went to 12 not 10.  I told Candi, I imagine he was surprised to find a little old lady instead of an *sshole.  Supposed to be trying again today....

As most of you saw in the MC thread last week, it turns out the other dog we had, the older one that he said had died, isn't dead.  Candi kept looking through the records and found that on 12/22 he brought her in, saying it was a stray he found out by City Park.  There was a picture, it was definitely her.  She's now been adopted.  I'm not sure what to do....I really don't want to shake things up if she's happy and cared for, I think she's been through enough.  But the shelter says they won't give the woman who adopted her my info b/c "she might be upset that she has someone else's dog"  So it seems its either, try to get her back or just let it go.  I don't know what to do :(

TheDogHouseBCMPD

But the shelter says they won't give the woman who adopted her my info b/c "she might be upset that she has someone else's dog"  So it seems its either, try to get her back or just let it go. 

By their logic, (ie, acknowledging she belongs to you) they should be retrieving the dog and returning Pooch to you anyway.  On the flip side, MOST people who adopt a dog from a shelter assume they're getting someone else's dog.  That's just a really stupid logic, I think.  I get it, they're looking out for the dog - they don't know you and could be assuming all kinds of icky things about you as an owner considering the circumstances under which Pooch came to them. 

Depending on how public you want to make it, you could post something on craigslist or in your local paper or with local vets.  Or you could force them to get her back to you (and expect them to ask you to re-pay them for her care while she was w/them).  Or you could let it go.  Letting it go would require me to feel comfortable that they did put good effort into finding her new home.  Assuming they're protecting the dog by not giving the new owner your info, I'm guessing the latter could be true - that she's in good hands.  What does Candi say about it?

 i watched a documentary on GPB about the people trying to find their dogs after hurricane katrina..... some sad stories, enemies made for life,friends made for life, some even had happy endings by getting their dogs back when they were told point blank the new owner would never do it, and others whose pets had been found were adopted out... one woman was quite old but managed to get her labrador back.. she kept him for about three years until she died. but she willed the dog to go back to the family that had adopted him. it was a rollercoaster of emotions! but it made me think of your situation....only ... dogs are lost and found every day in all manner of conditions, hurricane or not. what do people normally do when their dog is given away behind their backs and is then found living with another family??

and i agree with Paige... they may assume all sorts of things if she was in as bad of shape as Dusty. your ex gets off Scott free because he's labeled himself a Good Samaritan!

 at first, when i read your last post, i thought if it was me i would go to craigslist and write a public statement in hopes that it would reach them(not everyone reads CL though) and tell the situation and say "i just want to know that she's healthy and happy" and maybe ask to see her again. they might sympathize with you if they know the circumstances and then WANT to return her. it really really depends how long she's been with them and the kind of people they are. some of the ones from the katrina show were pretty self righteous saying "i deserve him more than they do because ..." in some cases they were right(dogs chained outside during a flood, heck no!), and in others... i disagreed.

yeah i would ask Candi her opinion. maybe some of the staff met these people and can give you a picture of what they're like.

 P.S.!!!!

I forgot to say that i'm VERY happy that she's alive!! i cant imagine the trauma this is causing you... well maybe i can.... when i was a kid my big brother took my dog to the pound when i was gone for the summer... well... i only assume he did. i know when i'm being patronized... he told me the dog didnt actually go into the pound. that when he arrived there was a family in the parking lot looking for a new dog and they fell in love with mine and took him sans middle man..... nice fairytale aint it? but as a result of that fairytale no one in my family even went to LOOK to see if my dog was still sitting there in a cage..

See - now this is a really sticky situation, with Pooch. LEGALLY - the dog belongs to the new family. They held her for whatever stray time was required, and was not claimed. That makes her property of the shelter. They adopted her out, making her property of the new owners. They do not have to tell the people what is going on, and I do not blame them. Things happen, and I 100% sympathize with you on this - but for the shelter to rip away a dog they placed is not something they are going to want to do, understandably.

Legally, your friend should not have told you anything at all.

ETA: this just goes to show one more benefit of mircochipping/tatooing and making sure all pets have proper ID on when they are outside the home. You never know what some crazy people will do.

 Erica, I get what your saying, and that makes it all the more crappy.  I don't want to have Pooch "ripped out of there" either.  If everything is ok and she's happy/healthy than I don't see the need to make things more traumatic for anyone involved.  But I'd like this person, to have the option of talking to me.  If I adopted a dog and then had the chance to connect with the previous owner, I'd want to, I'd want to know as much as I could about their previous life.  For example, they adopted her out saying that she was 7, she's at least 11. ETA: not faulting them for that, all they could do was give a best guess, I'm just using that as an example of why the new owner could benefit from being able to talk to me.

And she was ID'd, she had a collar w/ tags.  He must have taken them off of her when he took her in saying she was a stray.  She didn't have a microchip, b/c I haven't decided how I feel about them yet, and he wouldn't spend the $ to have it done.

Candi's hands are pretty much tied.  She said the manager will be in today till 7:30 and gave me the number I can call to talk to them.

ETA: now I'm a little worried about her getting in trouble if I talk to the manager, maybe I'll just go the Craigslist route.

This is such an ugly situation and makes me hate that *%&$^)& even more.

erica1989

Legally, your friend should not have told you anything at all.

 That is very true.  I hope she doesn't get into trouble about it.  Edit to say: You don't have to tell the shelter how you found out that Pooch ended up in their care.  Just that you did.  (For all they know, your ex finally confessed.)  You could just offer the info, and they can do with it what they want.  Don't threaten anything, and don't offer to relinquish your rights if you decide you do want to fight.  Just offer factual history info that may be helpful in her current home.

erica1989

They held her for whatever stray time was required, and was not claimed. That makes her property of the shelter.

I have a feeling the shelter isn't going to take the dog back from the home.  It will be up to Steph to decide if she wants to fight for her in a legal battle, I suspect.

miranadobe

However, the issue here I think is ownership, and I think that Steph likely relinquished her ownership rights when she left the dog w/the ex,

^^^  I think, bottom line, this is what it's going to come down to.  We had agreed when I left that if anything changed he would let me take the dogs, but I image at this point he isn't going to be backing up that agreement and nothing was in writing.

While I may still feel like this is *my* dog, I doubt there is really anything I can do at this point.  I was just hoping they would let the person know what was going on and give them the option of contacting me.  Candi said she can do a follow up call to check on her well being.  I guess maybe I'll have to let it go at that.  Though I may still do the Craigslist ad, and just put it out there in hopes they see it and are willing to contact me.

ETA: Its is really hard for me to except this.  I feel like, I mourned her when I thought she was dead, got a bright ray when I found out she was still alive, now I feel like I'm mourning her loss again.  Not sure if that makes sense.  Anyway, I just want to say thank you all for helping point out the heart of the matter, it hurts and I don't like it, but I do think I need to accept it .

I would say go for the CL ad, but be prepared for them NOT to come forward and say anything -and probably some flack from all the wackos out there.

It's a really, really sucky situation, and I wish I had better advice 

Of course it hurts, and I hope I wasn't too blunt.  (I'm a New Englander, and sometimes we just are by nature.)  It's sort of unfortunate that the shelter wouldn't just offer up the information to the new adopter, without necessarily "allowing" the contact information for you.  I can see them needing to protect her from getting entangled, just as much as the dog.  But it would be nice to give the information to them in hopes they'd pass it on to her new owner.  ie, does she have any allergies?  Her correct/current age.  Things like that are pertinent to her current care, I think.  A follow up call to check on the dog would be a great opportunity to offer that info to the new adopter.

In the meantime, you can take solace in the fact that she is alive and in much better hands than your ex.  Also, that Dusty is in your care again and won't go through the same circumstances as Pooch.  ((HUGS))

That really sucks you have to deal with this now Steph.  If it were me I'd be going crazy wondering what the new parents were like.  At least by knowing what the new house/parents are like it would help you to decide which route to take.  Damn ex....someone really needs to take him down a couple notches.  Maybe you should be putting HIS picture on CL and telling about him! 

miranadobe

In the meantime, you can take solace in the fact that she is alive and in much better hands than your ex.  Also, that Dusty is in your care again and won't go through the same circumstances as Pooch.  ((HUGS))

i would sooooo be tempted to slander this guy..... but that could bring up bigger problems. ((ok if you did slander him just dont name his name or post a picture of him lol))

i think in your situation you wont have to worry too much about people giving you flak in CL if you posted an ad. a lot of divorces will end up with pets going to two different houses, but how can you know the other person will or wont pull this stunt?! and if you HAD known then you obviously wouldnt have let him have her.

i wouldnt give up entirely... you never know what will happen if you post the ad. the new owners dont have to reply, they dont have to feel guilty(AND NEITHER DO YOU!!) but it depends on who they are..... if i found out suddenly i had adopted someones dog ... well damn right i would want to know the circumstances if the dog was found in crappy condition.. but if it was a situation such as this... well i would be willing to give the dog back.. and thats only because someone DID take my dog to the pound behind my back.

 No worries Paige, you weren't too blunt.  That thought had been in the back of my mind but I didn't want to think about it. 

I went ahead and called the adoption supervisor, just to ask if they'd pass my info on.  At first she didn't want to, but I was in tears and I think she took pity on me (It wasn't intentional, but I couldn't stop).  She took my info and said she would call the other person and if they were open to contacting me she would give them my info.

I think that is really the best I could ask for.  Now I just hope the woman wants to contact me.  But if she doesn't, well, its like you all have said, at least I know Pooch isn't with him anymore and that she is most likely getting much better care.

DumDog, you are exactly right, if I had known I wouldn't have let him keep either of them.  I really thought they'd get the basics, maybe not as many new things, maybe a little less attention, and maybe not as good of food, but I never in a million years thought that either of them would have to go through what they did.

Again, I just thank you all so much for giving me support through this mess.  It is so nice to have you all to come to.  I really really am grateful.

TheDogHouseBCMPD

At first she didn't want to, but I was in tears and I think she took pity on me (It wasn't intentional, but I couldn't stop).  She took my info and said she would call the other person and if they were open to contacting me she would give them my info.

 That is actually a good sign.  It means she sees you as honest and a decent person, as opposed to whatever she might have imagined before, considering the circumstances under which Pooch arrived.  To be honest, when animals come into a shelter in bad shape, you can't help but think bad things about how she got there (and some workers are guilty of thinking bad things even about owners who relinquish with terrible guilt, huge financial donations to support the dog's care while he's there, and tremendous effort to resolve the issue that makes rehoming necessary, exhausting other avenues that make the shelter their last resort.  In other words, they tried very hard to do right by the dog, but the shelter is the last resort, yet they get lumped in w/abuser and neglect cases as "bad owners" by some workers.)   It's a really good sign that the shelter recognized you're a different person.  To me, that says if the dog ever did come back for any reason, they'd tell you.  ANd that they'll present the information more fairly to the new adopter.

We know above all that you never would have knowingly left Pooch in a bad situation.  I left my ex's dogs with him, knowing they would go back to cheap kibble, and might be left alone for weekends while he went out on his new boat, and he might or might not keep their vaccinations up to date.  But that's what they experienced before me.  I know without a doubt that he loves those dogs and would never do what your STBX did, ever.  I'd be just as blindsided and enraged if something like this happened with Jada and Achilles.  You're doing everything you can to ensure their care and safety now, even when one is not in your custody and control.  AND looking out for the dog that was never yours, but is there now - you care about his safety and health, too.  That's the best you can do.  Somebody above has been looking out for Pooch somewhere along the way, that she survived STBX's "care" and she undoubtedly got medical care at the shelter and I bet she's in a very good place.  You may not hear back directly from the new owner, but I hope you get some news that eases your heart so you know she's good and happy and safe and loved.

 Talked to Candi again.  The only thing she said was that the ACO couldn't get a hold of him.  So I guess nothing is going to happen.

No one has contacted me about Pooch either, so I'm assuming the new owner did not want to talk to me.