Dog Community

When someone wants to keep your dog?Little Bitty Update;)(huskymom)

Posted : 10/3/2009 6:11:35 PM

Changed the name of the thread, to hopefully get more advice.

I am sooooo annoyed right now. And my friend Jen is even more annoyed. This is once again Jen's story. I don't know why she doesn't just join this forum herself.... K, Jen, for those of you that don't know or remember, is my friend that has Crusher's brother Eclipse. I've come to you for good vibes for her and her crew more than once. When her lead, Echo, was sick and passed, and just recently, when she was almost homeless with 3 huskies and 4 GSD's...or maybe 4 and 4? Anyway, those are two that I remember for sure. Once again, I'm looking for some thoughts and ideas from you guys, for her.

This is Jen and Zia's story. Zia is Jen's oldest dog. She's a purebred GSD that came to Jen with some issues. She was a breeding failure we believe in her former home. HATES (or hated) male dogs. She had some form of Colitis and some serious SA. Very clingy, but as we've come to learn, that's fairly typical of her breed. Lovely dog though. Clumsy, and lovable, if terribly skinny and never able to hold weight. Zia is a homesticker. The other dogs always need to be leashed, but Zia is 8 and getting lazy, plus she's never wandered. She likes to be in the middle of things, ya know? In the beginning of this story, Zia bolted one night when Jen opened the door. That was the last she saw of Zia, though she looked for weeks for her, called vets, AC, the HS, everyone she should have. Finally she gave her up. We're in Northern Ontario. Domestic dogs don't last in the bush up here. We've got wolves(one pack had 23 wolves last winter) lynx, the occasional cougar, bears etc. So Jen finally accepted that Zia was not coming back. She mourned her and went on with life. That was 3 months ago.

Yesterday she took Eclipse to the vet(our vet) for a wound inflicted in a scuffle at home. While she was there, Clayton(our vet) happened to mention,"Oh by the way, Zia's alive you know. Some people brought her in a while ago, but don't worry, she's in a good home, and these people are taking care of her.".........

Uh....What?!

He was obviously not counting on Jen's reaction. Was totally taken aback when she wanted to know who the heck had her dog, and why the heck she wasn't called as soon as he found out she was alive. He will not tell her who has Zia. The cops say that since Zia was found and not stolen, they can't make Clayton tell her. And if she does manage to find out who has her, she will have to take them to court and let a judge decide who gets her.

On to my original question.(about microchip purpose) Zia is not microchipped, but she is tattooed. She's tattooed on the inner thigh, if that matters, to GSD folks? Lies? Anyway, does anyone know what legal rights that gives her? If any? The papers are in Jen's posession, but she's got to have the ownership changed on them as it still says the origional owners. Jen never anticipated any problems like this, cause well its Zia. She knows better now.

For those that wonder, there is no doubt in my mind that Jen would hold her own with any of the greatest dog owners in this board. Her life is her dogs, everyone here(in D'town) knows that. In fact our other non-dog friends roll their eyes more at her than me about the dogs. Her dogs are fed top quality food, and raw when she can. They're run daily. Lots of training. Well groomed etc etc etc. Clayton has called on her before I believe about fostering, so I know he doesn't think she's an unfit home. I just don't get it.

If anyone has any info, or ideas of where to start looking for info about legal grounds to find out who has Zia, and what to do once she does find out, I'd really appreciate it. I'm just totally blown away by this vet's actions. I'll be looking for another vet, as will Jen if he doesn't somehow work this out for her. She's been going to this same vet for 20 years. He's a musher, like her. She's so angry. So am I. Good Vibes would be appreciated, even if you don't have any advice.

TysonSS

Posted : 10/3/2009 6:25:20 PM

I have no advice butttt its really cool that she mushes :) and i hope this all works out cuz thats seriously effed up; especially since she made the effort to go looking and made calls and stuff

Liesje

Posted : 10/3/2009 6:47:46 PM

Unfortunately I don't think the tattoo counts for much unless she takes the new "owners" to court, she can explain to the judge she knows it's her dog b/c she had the tattoo done.

My GSD is tattoo'd in the right ear for show and competition, the dog must have at least one form of permanent ID. He is also microchipped, but I don't own my own scanner (if you use a chip as the ID you have to bring your own scanner), so I also had him tattoo'd because it's free and so much easier. Also it can't hurt to have as much ID as possible.

I'm not really sure how one proves a dog is theirs. In my case, I have registration papers for my GSDs and adoption papers for Coke. Plus obviously I have copies of all medical records. I also have the barcodes for their microchips. My dogs are not currently licensed as they are supposed to be, but I think that would have to count for something. If she can find out who has the dog, she should bring them to court with all her papers and vet records.

sheltiemom

Posted : 10/3/2009 7:22:34 PM

If the the girl is registered with the Canadian Kennel Club, your friend MUST have the paperework transferred to her name to prove ownership ...which SHOULD have been done at the time she actually took possession of the b*tch... but regardless...

Once she has been registered with the CKC, in HER name, she can contact the LOCAL police/SPCA/dog pound with PROOF ( CKC registration certificate) that the dog belongs to her, that the vet knows where this girl is and *should* oblige the vet in question to release the info as to where and *who* has HER dog.

One thing that does bother me though...if this vet has been YOUR/HER for awhile now, and knows that the girl was missing.....then *WHY* did the vet NOT contact the owner( your friend)... can it be that he feels that Zia is in a *better home* now??

Anyway... with the CKC registration papers in her name, she should have NO problems in claiming ownership... small claims court not withstanding.

huskymom

Posted : 10/4/2009 1:53:36 PM

sheltiemom
One thing that does bother me though...if this vet has been YOUR/HER for awhile now, and knows that the girl was missing.....then *WHY* did the vet NOT contact the owner( your friend)... can it be that he feels that Zia is in a *better home* now??

That's the thing we are all trying to grasp. He fully knows Jen is a great dog owner. He knows her personally. She's been going to him with her animals for 20 years. She still calls him for every bump and bruise that happens. She gets her food from him, so he knows what she feeds. He sees her animals all regularly, enough so he knows they are well cared for. They are all well behaved, if not super socialized with other dogs. He saw what she went through with Echo. He was the one that put her down. And Jessie before that(17). And her cat Spaz, who was 18.

The only thing we can figure is that he knows the people that have her. That for some reason he is protecting them over her. But we can't figure out why he brought this up after knowing for months. Why tell her, if he had no intention of helping her get Zia back? That in itself seems cruel.

The other thought that crossed my mind is the musher factor. I don't know how much everyone knows about mushers. But at any given point in time Clayton has 30+ dogs. None as far as we know are pets. Could it be that he regards dogs as livestock rather than pets, or family members. Jen is not that kind of musher. She has 4 huskies currently, including Eclipse, Crusher and Onyx' mother Nikita, who she rescued from our horrific breeder(before we knew better Embarrassed ). All 4 huskies, plus the three remaining GSD's sleep in or around her bed with her every night. They cuddle on the couch with her and follow her from room to room. She nearly went homeless because her previous landlords decided to move back into the house she was renting and evicted her, and finding a place with 1 big dog can be hard, much less 7, or rather 8 at the time. Maybe Clayton assumed she felt the same way as he does? We don't know.

I did find out a few other things about Clayton last night though. The first was from my friend Rachel. Apparently her mom's cat has diabetes, and she spent over $4000 at Clayton's doing test after test to see why her insulin wasn't working. Finally went to another vet and $400 later, the cat is found to be insulin resistant, put on something that works and is back from the edge of death. The second was our friend Ed, who was showing me how much of a baby his pit/lab cross is, and told me that even his vet wasn't afraid of him anymore. Yup, Clayton. Apparently he told Ed and Amanda that Buddy is not like normal pitbulls, because he's so friendly. So maybe he's just losing it. This is soooo not the Clayton I know and love as a vet.

BEVOLASVEGAS

Posted : 10/4/2009 10:22:02 PM

Candace, I have no advice. I know that, if I were Jen, I would be absolutely furious at her vet. I would have been hauled out of the office in handcuffs after he refused to disclose where my dog was. That's just absolutely unacceptable.

I am not taking up for your vet but I will say that getting a diabetic cat regulated can be very difficult. Even for internal medicine specialists.

willowchow

Posted : 10/4/2009 10:48:18 PM

Amanda--the new signature is great!

Candace-This just really makes me see red!! Who the freak is he to decide that the dog is better off elsewhere?? If he had a problem I'm sure he's aware of the proper channels to go thru to get whatever checked out. I hope she gets her dog back and this *** ends up in court with the idiot that he's covering for. She should get a lawyer because this is stealing.

Sunshinegirl

Posted : 10/4/2009 10:52:13 PM

Have you considered that maybe Clayton has her dog???? Just a thought.... it sounds like a pretty small world where you are and crazier things have happened..... I hope she gets her dog back.. what an awful feeling it must be, I can only imagine!

Bullymom

Posted : 10/4/2009 11:08:42 PM

I know one thing, I don't blame you or your friend for being pissed off. I would be too. If I were her (your friend) I would definately have a duck and take them to court. I would also change vets. I cannot believe that the vet KNEW where her dog was and never even bothered to let her or the "current owner" know about the situation. I am also leaning toward the idea that Sunshinegirl mentioned. It could be that the vet himself has the dog and he just doesn't want to give her back to your friend. I wish your friend lots of luck in getting her baby back. I am sorry that this happened. (((Hugs)))

huskymom

Posted : 10/4/2009 11:18:20 PM

This is a consideration, but I doubt it. See, Zia is not the most agile of beasts. She's perfectly lovely, but has walked head first into her fair share of trees and walls. Clayton's dogs are racing dogs. And since Zia tops out at about 8 mph...I don't think she'd make the cut. But I doubt its far off. I'm thinking perhaps a family or friend of his. Hopefully we'll find out more tomorrow.

Cita

Posted : 10/5/2009 8:57:45 AM

I'm so sorry for your friend. :( I've been following this thread, hoping for a positive update.

I agree your friend should do something, but I don't know what legal options she has... since it's not like the dog disappeared from inside her lost house. Is it against the law to keep a stray dog, even if the previous owners are looking for it? At what point is "ownership" forfeited and the animal considered "abandoned"?

I really, really hope she gets her dog back. IMO the vet's behavior is absolutely unconscionable. I can't imagine any circumstance (other than dire neglect) in which it would be okay to not tell someone that their dog has been found, and how to get it back. Even if there aren't any legal obligations, IMO the moral obligation is pretty clear!

aerial1313

Posted : 10/5/2009 9:10:19 AM

BEVOLASVEGAS
I would have been hauled out of the office in handcuffs after he refused to disclose where my dog was.

No kidding...that would have been me as well. Seriously, the nerve of this guy is just unbelievable.

Has your friend called an attorney for advice? Most lawyers here in the states will talk to someone about something at no charge, to see if there's a case or not, or to advise on what she can do legally to get her dog back.

aerial1313

Posted : 10/5/2009 9:18:30 AM

Cita
At what point is "ownership" forfeited and the animal considered "abandoned"?

That's another interesting point. Since she can't find out who has the dog now, there's no way of knowing how long they've had her.

It's possible they took her in the day she went missing and either didn't see the "missing" signs or intentionally ignored them. Remember those people who took in Chuffy's dog? This could be a similar situation.

Liesje

Posted : 10/5/2009 9:52:21 AM

She could try pitching the story to the local news.....the negative PR might scare the vet into coughing up the name, or scare the thieves enough to return the dog.

espencer

Posted : 10/5/2009 10:23:35 AM

Liesje
might scare the vet into coughing up the name

I would make him cough up the name with my own hands, what an a$$