Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
if one doesn't want to read my novel just scroll to the bottom for the highlights>>>
About two weeks ago on my way to work, my fiance noticed two dogs that came up to us on our driveway. I had a horror episode 2 years prior when two LWD(little white dogs) were lost in my neighborhood and I tried to catch them but no luck since they weren't as friendly and this resulted in one of them getting ran over. Since then I never wanted to experience that feeling of not being able to do anything. So I was able to approach these two dogs and brought them into my house via the garage(it was a cool day). I assumed that their owners must live close by since these dogs looked well taken care of and would pick them up later that day, so I posted up flyers and found dogs ads on various internet sites, ones that would also contact local shelters and vets. No calls..no owner..nothing. I already had a zoo at my house(1 husky 3 cats, technically 2 since the 3rd cat is an outside stray that comes in my family's house occasionally to relax and get some lovin). So we kept them for 3 days to see if anyone would still call for them, only one person called to see if the dogs were re-united with their owner and offer me dog food. I also called our local animal shelters, nada.Bringing them to a shelter was moot since all the shelters where I live have a certain time frame till they're put down and we hoped for them to be adopted together. So I called up a variety of animal rescues to see if anyone can take them,and posted them on my FB to see if anyone could share and see if someone could adopt them. All of them were booked, but one rescue agency recommended us to the Houston SPCA. The Houston SPCA couldn't take them till Oct 9th after they had an interview with us. So from Sep 29th, we dropped the dogs at a doggy day care since we were close with the owner and she boarded them until I picked them up again on Tuesday of this week. So I get to the Houston SPCA and I feel like I made a mistake...
They claim since I had the dogs for 14 days, that they were technically mine meaning I had to pay $35 each per dog. I technically only had them for 4 days on my property, the rest of the time was at the friends day care. I don't care about the price, but saying *I gave up ownership of them makes me feel guilty and automatically puts me into an issue
Then after reading the contract and after they explained things to me, they said if they find out the dogs have a certain incurable disease or have very bad behavior, they will euthanize the dogs. I didn't take the dogs to the vet, but they seemed very healthy(I checked their stools for worms and I found none). I also monitored their behavior with my other pets and they were excellent! They never bit me or tried to attack my cats and they love to play with other dogs. However the male dog did get upset at my cat when he smacked his nose so I did warn them that mean cats are a no no. And it turns out one of the dogs are chipped so they will be contacting their owner. I started having regrets and was tempted to take them back, but they already brought the female inside, and the male dog was waiting to go with her too. I didn't even really get to properly say goodbye to her.
And since I gave up ownership of the dogs, I can not inquire to see how they are doing, which brings me back to the issue that these are not my dogs!
I want to know what happens to them and its breaking my heart not knowing if they could be lying to me and might put down the male dog and possibly the female if her owners do not wish to re-claim her(I also found a dog that was loose in my neighborhood basically the same day as these strays whom I returned home the next day and I was disgusted how their owners weren't out searching for her! No calls to shelters, no flyers up, nothing! They didn't even seem grateful that I found their dog! I fear the same happened to the female stray/chipped dog cause I saw no internet postings for her)I have saved strayed/lost dogs in the past, and I was always able to find out what happened to them! I read some reviews on this organization and this seemed to have happened a lot of times in the past! They claim that both the female and male is a labxgerman shepherd mix, but to me the male looks more like an American Staffordshire Terrier/pitbull terrier mix which I heard this shelter greatly dislikes and would try to euthanize via google reviews. I also read some reviews that said if I give up the dogs,I can't get them back either since they were *technically mine*. My family and I were hoping they'd be adopted as a pair cause even though they both didn't seem to come from the same household as we found out today, they found each other and the male dog looked after the female dog. My family said if no one adopts them then it would be possible open up our home to them, or even the male dog if he's left behind, but now that option is gone too.(We wanted what was best for the dogs, and having a new home is the best, but once again..I worry about the male being put down)
I keep refreshing their page to see if the male dog has been put up for adoption but so far nothing...(I know its been 5 hours but still). *I just looked at their site layout and the female dogs are separated from the male dogs...so they can't even bond together anymore...
So tl;dr I found two strays. Tried to find their owners but no one claimed them. I brought them to an animal rescue center hoping to do the right thing. One dog was micro chipped, so hopefully their owner can reunite with them! But now I'am upset because I can't physically inquire about their well being, I fear one of the dogs may be put down, and if these two dogs are put up for adoption I can not adopt them since according to their contract they believe they belonged to me.
I had a "nightmare" with a stray dog and animal control. I found "Maziey" one day when I went to check the mail. She was a very sweet dog, even licked my face when I first met her. I took her up to the house and my two female dogs (I had six at the time) did not get along with her. I had no place to keep her so I drove to the county near me with a better animal control facility that she might have a chance at. I kept thinking about her and felt guilty. I hit the internet on some message boards I visited and a nice guy that lived on a farm in Kentucky (I live in Tennessee) agreed to take her.
The nightmare - I went to "adopt" her back. The people at animal control were total a-holes about the whole thing. "You dropped her off and now you want her back?" It is as if they did not understand that I had found her a new home or didn't WANT to understand. They kept on saying "you already have six dogs" right after I told them I had found her another owner. They put me through the third degree. I was starting to think it would have been easier to go out to my truck, grab my handgun and TAKE her. Finally a smarter animal control person walked in and they explained to the ignorant one that I was trying to HELP the dog.
I got it all taken care of, drove her up to Kentucky where she became the dog of a young girl that named her "Maisey". I even got a few pictures of her at the farm.
I'm glad you were able to find a home for them in the end. I wish I could've done the same.
Its crazy how that shelter tried to give you that hassle of getting the dog back when you rescued it! I guess this is the price we pay for people who lie and give up their dogs for adoption saying it was a stray. As of now there's still no signs of the dogs I brought in on their adoption page...
*sighs* I hope they put them up by tomorrow...
I hate to say this but I would have a friend go down there and adopt them and have her give them to you . They make you lie to them because of their dumb arse bs rules ...I hate the shelters anyways can you tell ? you tried to do the right thing , but maybe like I said a friend can go down there and adopt them if the current owner was not found . I wish you lived by me cause I would do it for you ...but see if a friend can help you with this .
I hate to say this but I would have a friend go down there and adopt them and have her give them to you . They make you lie to them because of their dumb arse bs rules ...I hate the shelters anyways can you tell ? you tried to do the right thing , but maybe like I said a friend can go down there and adopt them if the current owner was not found . I wish you lived by me cause I would do it for you ...but see if a friend can help you with this .
Great idea. If they have B.S. rules there are ways around them. I can't understand why these "shelters" don't do ANYTHING THEY CAN to save the animals. If someone finds a stray and turns them over why in the world would you prevent them from coming back later and adopting?
I'm glad you were able to find a home for them in the end. I wish I could've done the same.
Its crazy how that shelter tried to give you that hassle of getting the dog back when you rescued it! I guess this is the price we pay for people who lie and give up their dogs for adoption saying it was a stray. As of now there's still no signs of the dogs I brought in on their adoption page...
*sighs* I hope they put them up by tomorrow...
You can't always find them homes, I got real lucky. I don't think the shelter people believe that people would bring in a stray they found. I think the dogs are held off adoption for a number of days in order to let their owners have time to claim them.
Rule #1: always contact a vet or a rescue first and have them check for chips.
Rule #2: if there are chips, follow up and make sure the owner is contacted.
In the past, I've run into senior pet owners who were taken to the hospital and adult children or others dumped the pets or "allowed" the pets to escape so they didn't have to deal with them.
Rule #3: Don't give up an animal to a kill shelter unless it's truly crunch time for you, and then don't feel guilty. We just can't save all of them! Your own pets have to come first.
I hate to say this but I would have a friend go down there and adopt them and have her give them to you . They make you lie to them because of their dumb arse bs rules ...I hate the shelters anyways can you tell ? you tried to do the right thing , but maybe like I said a friend can go down there and adopt them if the current owner was not found . I wish you lived by me cause I would do it for you ...but see if a friend can help you with this .
So as not to arouse suspicion since the dogs are separated, have two friends or relatives go down and each adopt one.
So many people drop pets off at shelters pretending to have found them. Seems shelters have become very jaded and distrustful of finders adopting them back out.
Give the shelter a day or two to get them up on their adoption page. Houston SPCA is a huge facility as shelters go. Good luck, I sure hope this turns out well.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was starting to think it would have been easier to go out to my truck, grab my handgun and TAKE her. Finally a smarter animal control person walked in and they explained to the ignorant one that I was trying to HELP the dog. 
