As I work in a rescue dealing with strays on a dailey basis I cannot hand on heart say from what I have heard that the rescue behaved inappropriately, it is up to the owner to GO to the rescue and identify their dogs, many rescues now do not supply information of dogs on site for security reasons, rescues are being broken into regularly and dogs taken off site, from what I can make out they told you they get a lot of JR's in? and I am sure you are awre of sme due to you having worked there at one time, if you are aware of this then going to the kennels would have saved all this heartache.

Mo

Hi Lyken, I am so sorry you have lost your dog.

I can't see that the kennel did anything wrong. If my dog was missing I would have been down at the kennel every day to view any new dogs which came in, I would not expect them to keep ringing me .

Please don't take this as criticism none intended. If you previously had a dog stolen wouldn't it have been a good idea to have the rest microchipped?

You say you have 10 dogs and breed, your dogs never go out, are wary of strangers, going to the vets and meeting other animals would stress them out, haven't your dogs been socialised so they learn to accept other people and animals. There will no doubt come a time when they need to visit a vet and socialising them would help to prevent this from being a stressful experience.

As some months have now passed since you originally lost the dog and new owners have purchased the dog in good faith, maybe you could approach them and see if you can come to some agreement to buy the dog back.

NB Please don't think I am being unsympathetic, it must be dreadful to lose a dog. However Wolf1percent has made some pretty strong allegations about someone's business and I can't see any evidence to support these allegations.

Having been on the other side of this coin can I just say how difficult and heartbreaking it is to have the dog you have bought and rehomed in good faith and love suddenly put into question in this way. Please spare a thought for the new owners of your dog. They have done a truly great thing offering a home to a little dog who they thought had no owner and are probably distraught by these accusations.

I rescued a welsh springer spaniel some years ago that I had found battered and bruised by the side of the road. I paid his vet bills and cared for him while he was classified stray, then placed in kennels and only after 4 weeks of careful searching for his original owner did the kennel sign him over to me. 6 months later a van pulled up beside me while I was walking tyler and a man began to shout and scream at me that I had stolen his dog. While one man held me back the other man grabbed tyler (who was terrified and screaming) and threw him into the back of their van and drove away.

I took the registration of the vehicle and tried to appeal. But ultimately the police said he had documents to prove he was the original owner and though I had documents to say he had been legitimately rehomed to me. They were powerless to do anything.

It took me many years to get over the loss of Tyler.

Please spare a thought for your dogs new family.

What an awful and traumatic experience to go through Magpye, hugs to you. I rehomed my ex racing greyhound through the the RGT, she was rescued from her previous home by the RSPCA along with a lot of other animals. The case came to court and the people were banned from keeping animals for 3 years i think it was and ordered to pay court costs. I did post a thread on here about it and a few people said what if the case hadn't come to court and the people were found not guilty - would they be entitled to claim my dog back ? this was something i hadn't thought about - it certainly raises some questions doesn't it ?

If the dog in question is happy with his new owner/s, I think I would take that into consideration. This little dog has been through a lot and I, for one, would be very reluctant to take him from his new home if he was happy. Hard as it might be to let go.

It seems to me that the Kennels, though didn't exactly put themselves out to seek you out, did their job as well as can be expected in the circumstances. I do understand the OP's frustration though.

I hope the dog is allowed to stay in the new home (so long as he is happy). The poor little thing must be confused, coming from his home to kennels and then kennels to a different home. I don't think it would be fair to change his home again, unless he is unhappy or uncared for, which doesn't sound the case

It's a sad situation all round.

I do think that the kennel were wrong in promising to phone you as/when any new JRTs came in. I must admit I'm a bit surprised to hear that the shelter did that previously; it is a huge undertaking and where do you draw the line (e.g. how long do people stay on the list?)

I really feel for you.

But your story should certainly serve as a warning to others
(1) get your dog microchipped or tatooed
(2) don't rely on other people promising to notify you - go the rescue centres yourself on a very regular basis.

If the dogs new owners don't want to hand him back to you (which, in my opinion, is understandable; they had no idea of the circumstances) then there isn't a lot you can do. As others have said, without being microchipped or tattooed, you cannot prove that he was yours. Pictures don't count for anything; they can be altered.

What a horrible situation for all parties.

I'm afraid that it doesn't matter whether you can prove the dog was yours if the local authority has discharged its duties properly.

Google Trevor Cooper and see if he can offer some advice however, to my mind, it comes down to whether the LA seized the dog as a stray and entered it into their register of found dogs currently being held by them.

The register is publically available and the onus is on owners to check it. If the dog was on the register then ownership transfered to the LA on the seventh day and, if rehomed, the new owners have proper legal title.

If the dog was not entered into the register then proper transfer cannot have occured and the dog still belongs to you. You may have to pay some accomodation/food bill to the adoptive family but you can still claim the dog back.

It really is a sad situation, but I am left wondering: why would you leave your dog unattended and un chipped in your garden after having one previously stolen? Why do you not believe in socialising your dogs? Why would you train a jrt to be a guard dog? Why would you not go to the ends of the earth to get back your dog which as you say is like family? You could have checked the kennels yourself.

All very odd to me. Maybe he will have a normal life with the new owners.

But unless the dogs new owners CHOOSE to give the dog back, which they probably in all fairness will not, they can't "claim" the dog back. Legally the only proof of ownership is a microchip or tattoo. As the dog had neither of those, they cannot prove that the dog was theirs. Photos and paperwork mean nothing as proof of ownership. This is why all dogs should be chipped and people should not rely on identification that can be easily removed, like tags.