My dog, given to me by a friend, was taken from me by that same friend.
He was given to me, as I was a known person with experience with the breed.
He had been living with me for over a year, when, one day, by mistake of an opened gate, he slipped out. At the time, he was staying with a friend and dog sitter as I had been away overnight. He had stayed there many times before. My dog is bred to run, so the sight of an opened gate was likely seen an invitation to him, a time to use his running ability.
As anyone who has lost a dog will know, it was horrifying. We combed the streets, with the help of friends and we put up posters, contacted all the animal shelters. Fortunately for me, my friends, and my dog, he stopped to lie down in someone’s back yard, in the sun. It had been a very cold night in December. She called the local SPCA and they had a description of him. He had slipped out of his collar and had no identification on him, though was wearing a harness. The SPCA called me and I went over immediately to the home of the lady who had found him. I will never forget the excitement with which he greeted me. He did not seem to be shaken by the event, yet he did seem very happy to be reunited with me. While he can’t tell me that of course, this is what I saw and know to be true.
When I was reunited with him I took him to my friend and dog sitter, and we also had a reunion.
I of course don’t know what my dog was thinking at the time, but I can image, what he thought might be fun, a run out an opened gate, turned into a frightening experience for him. He must have been relieved to also see the home that he playfully ran from. If he could say so I am sure he would have been saying, I am sorry I was only having fun. I like to run, and then I could not find my way home, so I kept running until I was too tired.
That night I also took him to visit the lady who had given him to me a year earlier. We had walked our dogs together often, and since she was his previous owner, I assumed she still cared about his well being then. I wanted her to know also he was OK. I trusted her. She asked if he could stay overnight with her and her dogs and reluctantly I said yes. I would have taken the day off work to be with him, but she had the day off anyway, and she would be home. As I thought of him and how nice it would be for him to not be alone, I agreed, arranging to pick him up after work.
If I could undo anything, it would be that. There was no way of knowing how this could turn on me.
She would not return him to me, she would not even talk to me, and I will spare the details. The result was, after 4 days of trying, and involving the police, my only option was to take further legal action to get him back. Going to small claims court, from my research, was the fastest most expedient way. I found out that I could do this, and could get a hearing with a judge to ask for him to be returned to me. It was late December, just before Christmas when I got the hearing. She, as she was notified to, came to the hearing too. Stepping outside now I can understand the decision of the judge. The decision was that the dog would have to stay where it was, until the court could decide. I had been optimistic that the judge would rule custody back to me, yet in his eyes, all he had was my word against hers. I could not prove, other than from my word, that I had not just given him back to her.
The months following were painful, and I spent lots of it preparing for the next steps. The next step I had asked for was another hearing. This came in March, but the court day ran full, and it was postponed to April. It was then I asked for custody of my dog until the trial, as the court had said the decision would only be made as it his ownership then, and at the very least I asked for visiting rights
I got visiting rights, to my own dog, all of which I had to pay for, as it as in a supervised setting. I had to pay the service that provided the setting.
I saw him for an hour five or six times, before the trial which was set for mid June.
We had been given 3 days in court. Yes, three days in court, about ownership of a dog.
Stay tuned for how it turned out.