Opinions on Vet/Rescue/Placement situation

Greetings.

Would love some opinions on this situation.

My neighbor works at a vet. Someone called the vet stating there had been a loose Collie/Sheltie in their neighborhood for several weeks (a couple of months). No one could get near it, but people were feeding it, and the caller had finally managed to get close enough to read the name of the animal hospital on the rabies tag.

It turns out the owner of the dog is apparently deceased (a sudden illness), and the dog escaped from the home of a helpful person watching it on the day of the funeral, and had not been seen since.

The dog was very up to date on everything, and in fact had just been seen at the vet not long before the owner passed away. There is some concern this dog may have been a service type dog, as the vet records state the owners indicated the dog was shipped in from somewhere at about a year old (first vet visit very shortly after they got the dog).

Anyway, the dog is microchipped, not sure what brand.

The problem is, the vet employee who first took the call decided at the time (even before the dog was caught) she would like it for her family, as it appears it had extensive training, and would be easy an easy fit into her home with her kids.

When the dog was finally captured and brought in, she paid to have it bathed, wormed, etc., and will be taking it home. My concern is, there has not been enough done to find out *if* the dog is a service dog, or *if* the dog is registered to someone via a chip registry.

In addition, I know several breeders who chip their puppies before they go, just for reasons like this. These same breeders state that if a dog cannot be kept by the owners, they are to be returned to the breeder.

I do not care if the employee ends up with the dog, IF all avenues have been investigated to find out if there are other issues that need to be dealt with.

The dog was obviously cared for, and not abandoned, until she escaped.

What do you think? Should everyone just be thrilled there is a home for it? Or should more effort be made to find out more about the dog?

The dog has a new home with someone who works at a vet's office so, presumably can provide care for it. Move on and worry about another homeless dog or one on death row at the shelter.

If the owner were still alive somewhere, then maybe more effort should be made. The dog is now alone, be happy that someone who really wants him and can care for him will be giving him a loving home. This just doesn't happen enough! You should be thrilled that the dog is going to be well taken care of.

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If this dog had ended up in my possession I would have traced the chip to see if there is a need to contact the dog's breeder or trainer.

This dog may well be under a contract to be returned to breeder/trainer. My shelter adoptees are all adopted with a mandatory return clause, and to think one of them could be whisked away to an unknown owner in a situation like this is really scary.

Trace the chip (it will need to be transferred to the new owner anyway, right?) and make sure the dog is really where it belongs.

LA Reidler To anyone that breeds dogs, I have one request. If you are going to create a beautiful soul (as most dogs have), have the decency to put it in a sound body.

Have to agree with everyone else here so far.

Good dog+excellent potential home=good deal all around.

Let's just be happy for the one we can save. Tonight I'm having to deal with a dog that has been shot (still alive but not at a vet) and a bad situation all around.

Paula Franke Lewis County Humane Society

This sounds like a whole lot of hearsay. The bare minimum that must be done is filing a found dog report with Animal Control and reporting the dog to the microchip registry. Guessing about how the dog got loose from whom just doesn't provide the new owner any protection at all. She doesn't want any suprises later, like a family member who has been searching for the dog she wants to keep in love and honor of the dead owner.

Case in point - 2 of our volunteers spend the last 48 hours trapping a group of 'feral' cats from an apartment complex. 4 moms with litters. The vet who was doing the spay/neuter and FLV testing called me mid-day. One of the cats had fresh stitches! The earnest volunteers had ended up stealing someone's pet, all in good intentions, and easy assumptions.

Lynn K.