More advice needed!

[JunieJay]

Today has been a wacky day!!

O.K., the night before last my neighbor across the street called. I know this woman a little, not well, but enough to say hi and exchange pleasantries. They have a son a little older than my oldest, and the two of them ocassionally play together.

Anyway, she tells me that some young woman knocked on her door around 7pm. The woman was on foot, walking to the subway, when she realized she was being followed by a little dog. She walked a few blocks and the dog was still following her, so she picked the dog up. The dog was shaking and since it was very cold that night, she thought she would knock on some doors to see if anyone knew who the dog belonged to.

So she goes to my neighbors house and tells my neighbor what is going on. Neighbor feels sorry for the dog, and takes the dog in, tells the girl to go on her way, she will take care of the dog until owner is found. At this point, she calls me up and asks me to come over to look at the dog and see if I might recognize her, and maybe know who she belongs to. So I go over and look at the dog, who is just the most well mannered little thing you've ever seen. Oh my gosh this dog is adorable, and obviously very well taken care of, she didn't even smell like a dog! Sadly tho, I have never seen the dog. She says she is going to keep the dog overnight. I tell her my boys will help her boys post some signs over the weekend if the owner still has not been found.

Are you with me so far? Sorry this is so long.

O.k., well DH just calls, he is now involved because when I told him last night he gets it into his head that if the owner is not found, WE will take the dog. Which ain't gonna happen, but that is beside the point. Anyhoo, he calls her and asks her about the dog, and this is when she drops the bombshell on him. Apparently, the other neighbor, a man who lives alone and is a new neighbor (and new to this country, he is South American and is living here temporarily for work) has somehow become involved with the dog too. He tells her he knows someone who wants a dog, and will she give her away? She says she is willing to discuss it. 15 minutes later, an older lady is at her door wanting to see the dog. She shows her the dog, the lady asks if she can have it and if so how much does she want for the dog. She says its free, and the lady walks out the door with the dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She then starts laughing and tells my husband that her husband is going to be mad because she didn't take any money for the dog. As IF this is her dog to give away!!!

I am just beside myself over this!! DH too, he said he just didn't know WTH to say to her, but after he recovered he asked her if she got the name and address of the lady in case the owners showed up. She said she did not, but if they did they could always go talk to the South American man who referred the lady to her to begin with.

I am tempted to call someone, but who? This dog was not a stray, someone owned and loved this dog. She was so well mannered and clean, I know someone is missing her right now.

What do you think we can do, if anything? I plan to say something to my neighbor, but not until I get my wits about me. I just can't imagine what she was thinking, giving away a dog that doesn't belong to her!!

 

[ButchJohnson]

If you can't track the original dog down, go out and buy one that is the same breed that looks like the dog and try and pass it off as the same one.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Strange! Sounds like the neighbor just wanted the dog off her hands ASAP. If I were the owner I'd be beside myself that my pet was missing and I'd probably implode if someone gave my pet away!

You're wise to have a cool head before you talk to your neighbor.

 

[Pam]

The neighbor should have taken the dog to a vet to see if there was microchip in the dog.

 

[PrincessMom2002]

It doesn't sound like there is much you can do now. This woman had no right to give that dog away, especially since she did not know the woman she was giving it to or even bother to get her name and phone #. Is there any chance this woman who took the dog lives in your neighborhood? She should have called a shelter to report the dog as found, and either turned the dog over to the shelter or agreed with them that she would "foster" the dog until the owner was located. If it were me, I'd be careful what I'd say to the neighbor. You don't know her that well anyway and who knows how she'd react to you saying something to her. She already lacks good judgement. I'm sure if you'd been the one to find the dog this whole thing would have played out differently. Just hope that wherever the dog ends up, it is in a loving home.

 

[lg3]

Very weird. What is up with your neighbor?!!! Did she feel so overwhelmed taking care of the dog (which she committed herself to, albeit temporarily) that she couldn't deal with it any longer? I think it was terribly irresponsible of her to 1) give away a dog that wasn't hers and 2)Not even get name/info of the person she gave the dog to!

I would hope that the neighbor would put a small ad in the paper about it (with her phone #), if she is at least willing to do that. I doubt she would. I don't know how much you personally can do now. Please watch the paper or signs up around to see if anyone posts looking for the dog, and tell them as much as you know. Unbelievable.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

Maybe you can give your local ASPCA a call to see if anyone reported a missing dog and also check your police department too to see if anyone filed a report.

 

[CEDmom]

If the dog was well cared for maybe it has one of those microchips in it that a vet could read. Living in a city I could see where a lot of people would do this.

Anyway, I'd just remind the neighbor that it wasn't her dog to give away. I'd also try to get the name/number of the woman who took the dog.

 

[Hannathy]

Had she even put up any signs or called the Humane society? I'd be very annoyed like you are. How terrible someone is probably out there checking all the usual routes and now this dog is out of circulation permanently. How sad.
Could you possibly find out the ladies name and then on your own put up some signs or call the Humane society and tell them the story so if the owner has been looking they can give them the info.

 

[poohandwendy]

The neighbor should have taken the dog to a vet to see if there was microchip in the dog.

No kidding. OMG, I can't believe the neighbor just gave the dog away after holding it for 2 days!

Wow. Maybe you can check the papers and check with the local vets and shelters and see if anyone came in looking for their dog?

Wow. Still wow.

 

[JunieJay]

I never even thought of a microchip; in fact I didn't even know such a thing existed.

I think my neighbor WAS overwhelmed, but still, why not call animal control? They would be the ones who would have a report of any missing dogs.

Fortunately, the one piece of this very bizarre puzzle is the South American neighbor who fortunately DOES know the person who took the dog. Whether that person is willing to give the dog up if the owners are ever found is another story......I keep thinking about these horror stories of people torturing animals or selling them for scientific research, and although I only met the dog just once I'm heartbroken!

DH said the neighbor told him she figured whoever the owner was, they didn't want the dog because the dog didn't have tags. Which it is odd why the dog didn't have tags, but still!! The dog was so clean and so well trained, this is not a stray!

 

[JunieJay]

If you can't track the original dog down, go out and buy one that is the same breed that looks like the dog and try and pass it off as the same one.

Huh?

 

[aclov]

Your neighbor should have waited a few days to see if the owner would appear. She should have made contact with vets in the area, animal control and the Humane Society, and local newspaper.

And how does she know she gave it away to a responsible person? It sounds like she just wanted to give rid of it. I just feel for the dog, I hope it's in good hands.

 

[poohluvrs]

Animal control &/or the local animal shelter should have been contacted, as that's probably where the true owner will search for their missing dog to turn up...

 

[bsnyder]

I never even thought of a microchip; in fact I didn't even know such a thing existed.

I think my neighbor WAS overwhelmed, but still, why not call animal control? They would be the ones who would have a report of any missing dogs.

Fortunately, the one piece of this very bizarre puzzle is the South American neighbor who fortunately DOES know the person who took the dog. Whether that person is willing to give the dog up if the owners are ever found is another story......I keep thinking about these horror stories of people torturing animals or selling them for scientific research, and although I only met the dog just once I'm heartbroken!

DH said the neighbor told him she figured whoever the owner was, they didn't want the dog because the dog didn't have tags. Which it is odd why the dog didn't have tags, but still!! The dog was so clean and so well trained, this is not a stray!

Judi, something sort of similar happened to us last weekend. I was out running errands on Saturday afternoon, and came home to find that DH and DD had found a dog wandering in the middle of the street (a fairly busy street), a few blocks from our house. The dog had a tag, but it only had a name - Libby - and a phone number, no address. They called the number, but got no answer. So of course, they had to bring the dog to our house.

Very cute, well-mannered dog. Like the one you're describing, you could tell she was very well cared for. Very well-groomed. And ADORABLE! She obviously belonged to someone who loved her. But how to find them? I wasn't too happy. We had a party to go to that night, and DD was going out too. I had no idea if the dog was house trained, and couldn't just leave her to wander around our house all evening. And we have a very open floor plan type of house. No way to confine her to a smaller area, unless I just stuck her in a bathroom.

I ended up calling my SIL who said she'd be home for the evening and would keep the dog. And the next morning we did finally reach the owners by phone. They were beside themselves with worry, and very relieved that Libby was okay. I told them they really should get a new tag with their address on it too. We could have at least left a note on their door....