Earl (Now named Doug) the Dane... Legal Question?

Earl was not working, he did not respond at all, for whatever reason he responds to Doug... LOL

I have a question..... What happens as I start to spend a bit more serious money on him?

No one seems to be looking for him, we have scoured the Net, Animal Control, shelters and Vets... Hung flyers etc... Nothing....

If someone comes forward can I ask that they pay Vet bills before releasing him?

I don't know about your question but we had a similar situation....


We found a golden retriever and asked EVERYWHERE, put up signs, called like 15 shelters around us and no one answered for a week. Then they called and said they decided to call the human society. THEN, a couple weeks later she got out again. And there is a really long story what happened after that....

But, my point is that just keep on waiting, and don't get your hopes up. I fell in love with that girl, and I still think about her.

I don't think so. Here, at least, what you're supposed to do is take the dog to the shelter. If no one calls about the dog within a week, you can request to adopt it, and it's yours and you could do all the vet care you wanted to it. Until then though, the dog doesn't belong to you and you shouldn't be doing anything to it.

What kind of vet care? If it is care that is NEEDED, then yes, you can ask for the money back before giving back the dog, IIRC. HOWEVER, you need to get pictures, get notes from the vet, etc, about the bad condition the dog was found in when you found him. That way, if they say you did something to the dog, and made him sick, you are not held responsible if they decide to bring the law into it.

To be sure, though, I would call the non-emergency number for the police and ask. Better to be safe than sorry.

ETA: Does he have any medical issues? Like worms or anything, that needs medical help? I hate to think it, but he could have been dropped off at your store, them knowing that you will get him the help he needs. Suddenly, when he is better, oh they just saw your posters and step forward. They think that way they can skip the bills.

They know next to nothing about legal questions and, frankly, aren't supposed to be handing out legal advice (which they would know if they knew anything about the law at all). They know even less, typically, about animal related law questions.

Sounds like the fostering situation with the shelter that you talked about in the other thread is the sensible, smart and safe way to do this. I'd advise anyone who found themselves in similar circumstances to explore that route

They are fine here. We have had to use them quite a few times (people used to dump their pets in my backyard for Rosey to find ) It was actually my dads police friend who told him to call them

He definitely needed care, he at times would stumble and I noticed he preferred to lay down and avoided being on his feet any more than he had to.

I would have no trouble returning him to a responsible owner who stepped forward... It's 6 months down the road I worry about and I am going to do what I need to to protect him...

My Vet did say, long term no chip or Obvious markings is a good thing ;-)

Go ahead and get him the care he obviously needs. I was told when I found a lost dog that you have to "look" for the owners for 2 weeks (putting up fliers, listing on lost pet sites, etc) before you can do anything else with him, like adopting him.

That's what the Vet said, I can go through the local shelter, pay an adoption Fee and the works and make it official if no one claims him in 14 days from my first contact with AC...

14 days?! Man, here they keep them for 3 full days, then they start the process to put them up for adoption.

Wow, 3 days seems too short... What if the owners were away and the dog escaped on it's caregiver or something...

I am going to be biting my nails that no BAD owners come forward, but a responsible owner who just did not know who to contact may not show up that fast!!