Wierd questions about dog custody

[maxiesmom]

Please stay with me, this may get a bit wordy.

Our next door neighbors are going thru a divorce. Now this is the family who has my fur baby Emma's best friend, Murphy. For a while we have been concerned for Murphy, as he was being left out in their yard quite a lot. As in the neighbor lady would go away for the day, and just leave him out in their fenced yard. And this was still when it was cold and snowy. There were a few times where we just brought him over into our house, he had been out so long.

Well, right as the whole thing was blowing up next door, the man moved out. Neighbor lady works in a bar, so she is gone late in the afternoon until early am hours. So Murphy was left in the house for long periods of time. Not ideal, but not what I would consider criminally mean. Until neighbor lady simply decided to not come home from work at all! I would get up for work in the morning, and she would not be home! She would come home about 9am, let the dog out into the back yard, and then leave again. Poor baby!

I think I need to backtrack for a second. We have what I guess you would call an open gate policy with the neighbors. We could go get Murphy at any time, bring him over to play in our yard with Emma, then take him back home later. When everything was going bad next door I think he wasn't getting fed. Murphy would come into our house, and run to where Emma's dish is. If there was no food in it, he would lick the bowl. Not something he would typically do. So now I was really concerned for him. He was being left in the house way too long, and now I'm thinking she is forgetting to feed him. He was more her husband's dog than hers.

One day husband comes home to move the rest of his stuff out. He brings over a huge amount of dog treats, saying that his wife will never bother to give the dog treats. But he can't take the dog with him, as he has moved in with friends. Husband has an offer in for a house, so hopefully Murphy won't have to stay with soon to be ex-wifey long. So I say to him that we would be more than happy to take Muphy for a while. He would have Emma to play with, plus my dad doesn't work, so he would be well cared for. Neighbor guy says that would be great, one less thing for him to have to worry about. Plus it won't be for long, because he has that offer in on a house.

Fast forward a few weeks. Guy lost out on house. Murphy is here. But we have lost contact with neighbor-guy. He is no longer returning our phone calls, or answering my dad's e-mails. My main concern right now is whether Murphy is on any kind of flea/heartworm medication. Emma is, but if Murphy isn't we will need to take care of that. We certainly don't want fleas in the house!

My questions are: Would it be over-stepping ourselves to take Muphy to a vet? How long do we try and get a hold of neighbor guy before we take the dog to a vet? Is there some point where we just have custody of him? Should we talk to the neighbor lady about it, even though she couldn't be bothered to care for the dog in the first place? What do we do?

 

[marlynnp]

Congratulations! Sounds like Murphy is your dog now. Go ahead and take him to the vet.

 

[Wankerville]

I would say that you should care for Murphy as if he were your own. If a time comes when neighbor husband asks for Murphy back, be prepared to give him bills for the vet and the meds. As well as keeping a copy for yourself, in case the matter needs to be taken further.

 

[clh2]

Murphy sure found himself a wonderful family.

Please take him to the vet.

Congrats on the new family member!

You'll have to post pic's soon...as you know, it is required anytime someone asks for pet advice on the disboards.

 

[donald&daisy]

I agree with the pps. He is yours if you want him. Possession is 9/10 of the law.

 

[manning]

Sounds like Murphy hit the jackpot!!!!

 

[DevilDuckie]

This dog belongs to the neighbor lady by virtue of her husband leaving him behind. It is not okay to start acting as though he is yours without talking to her first. You definitely should not be medicating him without her knowledge and consent.

I would go next door and talk to her. Tell her you are sorry for her troubles and that you know she is having a rough time. Offer to either take in Murphy or help her out with his care while she's working. If she's unwilling to give him up, offer to at least take him on walks or too the vet while she's working. Tell her you're taking Emma in next week and it's "no trouble" to take Murphy too. She might be delighted to unload him or she might just need a hand for the short term.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Also, when you talk to the woman ask her who their vet is, and if she would contact that vet to transfer the records to you. You could then continue with that vet or have the records transferred to yours.

 

[maxiesmom]

I just noticed that Murphy doesn't have a dog license! He has a tag, which I assumed was a license, but it is just an old id tag. Now we really do need to find out his history. We have to know if he has had a rabies shot, and not just because he needs it for a license. I'll have my dad go talk to the neighbor and figure out what is what.

Not sure if this makes a difference, but when neighbor guy came to get some of his stuff, and he let us take his dog, that was during one of the times when neighbor lady hadn't bothered to come home. So he gave us the dog, and then packed up stuff and left. Like I said, it was more his dog than hers, but she owns the house. So does the dog go with the house?

 

[doxdogy]

Has she even come looking for Murphy when he is at your house? I agree with other posters, sounds like Murphy has found a good home.

 

[Disney Doll]

You've got a dog.
I would say that if neighbor lady hasn't come looking for the dog...and it's been weeks and she lives next door...that she doesn't give a hoot about the dog.

The old tag he's wearing...does it have a vet's name on it???? If so, you could probably call them, explain the situation, and see what's what.

Or talk to neighbor lady and see if she has vet info.

But I'd get him to the vet ASAP, since you have another pet. A decent vet can start out with vaccines etc. again, and get him on schedule.