Getting My Dog Back

[glowdotGlock]

Here's my buddy. Been 6+ months. He's gonna have a big burger and a bonfire waiting on him Saturday night.

[peejman]

How much does the microchip cost on average? My previous lab that died at 15 had one but the owner before had it put in.

 

 

What they said... pay them.  They need the money anyway.  edited... I thought the dog was at a typical shelter.  That does smell a little fishy to me as well.  But I'd still probably pay them and go on with life. 

 

 

Microchipping usually costs about $50, but sometimes it depends on the size of the dog. 

Edited October 16, 2014 by peejman

[maroonandwhite]

Glad you are getting him back! 6 months is an awful long time. I'd say it's a miracle you found him!

[glowdotGlock]

If it weren't for a stranger on Facebook I wouldn't have.

[Troutburger]

So the guy takes your property, that wasn't really lost.  Holds onto it for 6 months, all the while trying to sell it to the first respective buyer.

 

You catch wind due to your own efforts not the efforts of the rescue. And you are supposed to be thankful and pay him to get your own property back that never was really lost to begin with. 

 

Why stop at dogs, how about all livestock, automobiles, and children...lost cell phones and wallets...

If you lose your keys and I find them, can I turn around and sell your car? 

 

Now I am very pro rescue.  3 of my dogs have been rescues, but they were owner surrenders or picked up from the local animal shelters by the rescues. 

 

I know the polite thing is to be thankful, pay the $80 and live happily ever after.  And that's exactly what you should do. 

But it just rubs me the wrong way to think someone can just pick up any random dog walking down the street and essentially sell it.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Troutburger

[gregintenn]

So the guy takes your property, that wasn't really lost.  Holds onto it for 6 months, all the while trying to sell it to the first respective buyer.

 

You catch wind due to your own efforts not the efforts of the rescue. And you are supposed to be thankful and pay him to get your own property back that never was really lost to begin with. 

 

Why stop at dogs, how about all livestock, automobiles, and children...lost cell phones and wallets...

If you lose your keys and I find them, can I turn around and sell your car? 

 

Now I am very pro rescue.  3 of my dogs have been rescues, but they were owner surrenders or picked up from the local animal shelters by the rescues. 

 

I know the polite thing is to be thankful, pay the $80 and live happily ever after.  And that's exactly what you should do. 

But it just rubs me the wrong way to think someone can just pick up any random dog walking down the street and essentially sell it.

LOL! Yeah......what we need is something else for the government to regulate. :ugh:

[Troutburger]

LOL! Yeah......what we need is something else for the government to regulate. :ugh:

 

 

I don't get where I mentioned or advocated government regulation in my post? 

 

I'm merely suggesting that this "rescuer" or "thief" should not take property that does not belong to him.  And that no ransom is due to him for his efforts. 

 

If he were truly trying to rescue the dog, he would have posted found messages and fliers.  Or at least made some effort to locate the dog's owner. 

[gregintenn]

I don't get where I mentioned or advocated government regulation in my post? 

 

I'm merely suggesting that this "rescuer" or "thief" should not take property that does not belong to him.  And that no ransom is due to him for his efforts. 

 

If he were truly trying to rescue the dog, he would have posted found messages and fliers.  Or at least made some effort to locate the dog's owner. 

I'm not saying the person who picked up the dog was right, but do you think after he's fed it all summer and lets it go for $80, do you really think he's in it for the money?

[Troutburger]

On this one dog, no he's lost money.

 

But how many dogs does he steal and flip per week?  

 

5-10 dogs per week vs a 35# bag of old roy...I think i've found a new business venture. lol

Its really a numbers game, and perhaps a tax shelter. 

 

I don't know the profile of this unsub, but it could be he gets a kick out of being the hero and rescuing dogs that weren't really lost. Only a matter of time before his obsession turns to people. 

 

Just joking.  

Very happy you are getting your dog back!`

[wileecoyote]

The notion of letting a pet run loose is sometimes viewed as natural or traditional, especially around more rural areas. Some owners feel it is only right to let them have their freedom, and some folks enjoy having stray pets come to visit once in a while. These folks may have been raised in a culture that pets were only outside animals, not much different than birds or squirrels that you enjoy seeing and occasionally feed but otherwise don't do much about. Other folks have a romantic vision of their pets going out to play, making friends, visiting neighbors, communicating with other animals, and generally having a great time and then always finding their way home at the end of the day to rejoin their loving family after a fun day of adventure, similar to the crap that you see in the Disney movies. But the harsh reality is that a loose pet will usually just be searching for food or sex, or most often just looking for some loving attention from other animals or humans that are willing to pet and play with it. And if you leave a pet outside during rain or hot/cold weather then he is often just looking for better shelter.

 

So if you really care about your pet (and your neighbors and their pets) then you would never let your pet run loose at large. Doing so exposes them to many, many hazards including being hit by a car, attacked by other pets or predators, shot at when trespassing on other properties, poisoned by all manner of toxic things he might eat or drink, chased or tortured by kids or twisted people, pelted with rocks or BBs or whatever, exposed to ticks and fleas and other diseases, injured by crossing dangerous areas such as steep hills, broken glass, becoming permanently lost, getting picked up by Animal Control or adopted by someone else that sees him as homeless, etc. And it can also cause a lot of inconvenience for your neighbors if your pet harasses their livestock or pets, craps in their yard, barks at night, bites one of their kids or pets, etc.

 

Most pet owners who let their pets run loose are either ignorant of the facts above or they just don't care enough about the pets or their neighbors to do any different, and in my opinion these folks shouldn't have pets, which is why I fully support the legal capture of strays and placement in shelters where the pet will at least have a chance of being placed in a better home. Other pet owners aren't willing to go to the expense of properly tagging, chipping, and containing the pet to their properties, in which case I think they should only have inside pets that are only let out in a fenced area or on a run or leash.

Edited October 16, 2014 by wileecoyote

[gregintenn]

The notion of letting a pet run loose is sometimes viewed as natural or traditional, especially around more rural areas. Some owners feel it is only right to let them have their freedom, and some folks enjoy having stray pets come to visit once in a while. These folks may have been raised in a culture that pets were only outside animals, not much different than birds or squirrels that you enjoy seeing and occasionally feed but otherwise don't do much about. Other folks have a romantic vision of their pets going out to play, making friends, visiting neighbors, communicating with other animals, and generally having a great time and then always finding their way home at the end of the day to rejoin their loving family after a fun day of adventure, similar to the crap that you see in the Disney movies. But the harsh reality is that a loose pet will usually just be searching for food or sex, or most often just looking for some loving attention from other animals or humans that are willing to pet and play with it. And if you leave a pet outside during rain or hot/cold weather then he is often just looking for better shelter.

 

So if you really care about your pet (and your neighbors and their pets) then you would never let your pet run loose at large. Doing so exposes them to many, many hazards including being hit by a car, attacked by other pets or predators, shot at when trespassing on other properties, poisoned by all manner of toxic things he might eat or drink, chased or tortured by kids or twisted people, pelted with rocks or BBs or whatever, exposed to ticks and fleas and other diseases, injured by crossing dangerous areas such as steep hills, broken glass, becoming permanently lost, getting picked up by Animal Control or adopted by someone else that sees him as homeless, etc. And it can also cause a lot of inconvenience for your neighbors if your pet harasses their livestock or pets, craps in their yard, barks at night, bites one of their kids or pets, etc.

 

Most pet owners who let their pets run loose are either ignorant of the facts above or they just don't care enough about the pets or their neighbors to do any different, and in my opinion these folks shouldn't have pets, which is why I fully support the legal capture of strays and placement in shelters where the pet will at least have a chance of being placed in a better home. Other pet owners aren't willing to go to the expense of properly tagging, chipping, and containing the pet to their properties, in which case I think they should only have inside pets that are only let out in a fenced area or on a run or leash.

You'd probably need to come see where i, and probably glowdotGlock live. We don't all live in a subdivision or apartment. My dog stays in the house most of the time, but goes out as he pleases. Most of my neighbors have dogs who aren't chained as well. It is very rural here, and we all know each other like family. I know every dog in our neighborhood, and all their names. I think our situation might be a bit different than what you're accustomed to.

 

My neighbors' dogs will occasionally come get mine. They'll all go swim in a pond, dig for moles, and wrestle and play about the place. Later, they'll all divide up and go home for a nap. Doesn't seem like a bad life to me.

[bersaguy]

i had Kasey Micro-chipped when she was 6 months old and it cost me $35.00 but that was also 15.5 years ago so I would guess it has gone up since then.............. :shrug: :shrug:

[bersaguy]

I am truly glad you are getting your best friend back Glow but I would go the micro chip route if he runs loose any at all. After being living and eating at another location for 6 month dogs have this thing about sometimes going back home to familiar surroundings and if loose he may wind up in another county on his own this time.  He may decide the other place is home........Stranger things have happened......................jmho

[bersaguy]

The notion of letting a pet run loose is sometimes viewed as natural or traditional, especially around more rural areas. Some owners feel it is only right to let them have their freedom, and some folks enjoy having stray pets come to visit once in a while. These folks may have been raised in a culture that pets were only outside animals, not much different than birds or squirrels that you enjoy seeing and occasionally feed but otherwise don't do much about. Other folks have a romantic vision of their pets going out to play, making friends, visiting neighbors, communicating with other animals, and generally having a great time and then always finding their way home at the end of the day to rejoin their loving family after a fun day of adventure, similar to the crap that you see in the Disney movies. But the harsh reality is that a loose pet will usually just be searching for food or sex, or most often just looking for some loving attention from other animals or humans that are willing to pet and play with it. And if you leave a pet outside during rain or hot/cold weather then he is often just looking for better shelter.

 

So if you really care about your pet (and your neighbors and their pets) then you would never let your pet run loose at large. Doing so exposes them to many, many hazards including being hit by a car, attacked by other pets or predators, shot at when trespassing on other properties, poisoned by all manner of toxic things he might eat or drink, chased or tortured by kids or twisted people, pelted with rocks or BBs or whatever, exposed to ticks and fleas and other diseases, injured by crossing dangerous areas such as steep hills, broken glass, becoming permanently lost, getting picked up by Animal Control or adopted by someone else that sees him as homeless, etc. And it can also cause a lot of inconvenience for your neighbors if your pet harasses their livestock or pets, craps in their yard, barks at night, bites one of their kids or pets, etc.

 

Most pet owners who let their pets run loose are either ignorant of the facts above or they just don't care enough about the pets or their neighbors to do any different, and in my opinion these folks shouldn't have pets, which is why I fully support the legal capture of strays and placement in shelters where the pet will at least have a chance of being placed in a better home. Other pet owners aren't willing to go to the expense of properly tagging, chipping, and containing the pet to their properties, in which case I think they should only have inside pets that are only let out in a fenced area or on a run or leash.

No offense and I do hope none taken but I think a lot of what you said here does depend on location about 95% and 5% type of dog. I grew up most of my life on a ranch of almost 5000 acres and we always had at least 8 to 10 dogs, Some hunting dogs and some stock working dogs and a few house dogs and were never chained but beagle hounds were fenced in a kennel area about 50 by 50 feet and all had insulated dog houses. Stock dogs ran loose all the time and Coon hounds ran loose all the time. Now with that said.

 

People that do not live in an area where a dog can have sufficient room to run and remain on their property should not have an out side dog or should have a large fenced area. ..............................jmho

[peejman]

Bear in mind that there is a state-wide leash law.  Dogs are not permitted to "run at large".  Its generally never enforced, but it is written. 

[gregintenn]

Heck, I even let my kids go outside and play! :shhh: Not chained or penned or anything.

 

Sometimes they get together with neighboring kids and play.

 

Sort of the same as my dog.

Edited October 16, 2014 by gregintenn

[DaveTN]

I may see if thr guy will take half of his fee. I won't get confrontational because that's just not me but I am not adopting him, just taking him back home.

You don’t have to get confrontational. I would pay a reward to get my dog back; they wouldn’t even have to ask. But if I thought I was being scammed I would simply call the law and have them come out. It’s your property and you don’t have to pay to get him back unless you desire to do so.

[tnguy]

i had Kasey Micro-chipped when she was 6 months old and it cost me $35.00 but that was also 15.5 years ago so I would guess it has gone up since then.............. :shrug: :shrug:

 

Think so. If you get lucky, you might catch a special. The chips are very cheap so it's a high mark-up (worth it, even at that though)

Edited October 17, 2014 by tnguy

[glowdotGlock]

The notion of letting a pet run loose is sometimes viewed as natural or traditional, especially around more rural areas. Some owners feel it is only right to let them have their freedom, and some folks enjoy having stray pets come to visit once in a while. These folks may have been raised in a culture that pets were only outside animals, not much different than birds or squirrels that you enjoy seeing and occasionally feed but otherwise don't do much about. Other folks have a romantic vision of their pets going out to play, making friends, visiting neighbors, communicating with other animals, and generally having a great time and then always finding their way home at the end of the day to rejoin their loving family after a fun day of adventure, similar to the crap that you see in the Disney movies. But the harsh reality is that a loose pet will usually just be searching for food or sex, or most often just looking for some loving attention from other animals or humans that are willing to pet and play with it. And if you leave a pet outside during rain or hot/cold weather then he is often just looking for better shelter.

So if you really care about your pet (and your neighbors and their pets) then you would never let your pet run loose at large. Doing so exposes them to many, many hazards including being hit by a car, attacked by other pets or predators, shot at when trespassing on other properties, poisoned by all manner of toxic things he might eat or drink, chased or tortured by kids or twisted people, pelted with rocks or BBs or whatever, exposed to ticks and fleas and other diseases, injured by crossing dangerous areas such as steep hills, broken glass, becoming permanently lost, getting picked up by Animal Control or adopted by someone else that sees him as homeless, etc. And it can also cause a lot of inconvenience for your neighbors if your pet harasses their livestock or pets, craps in their yard, barks at night, bites one of their kids or pets, etc.

Most pet owners who let their pets run loose are either ignorant of the facts above or they just don't care enough about the pets or their neighbors to do any different, and in my opinion these folks shouldn't have pets, which is why I fully support the legal capture of strays and placement in shelters where the pet will at least have a chance of being placed in a better home. Other pet owners aren't willing to go to the expense of properly tagging, chipping, and containing the pet to their properties, in which case I think they should only have inside pets that are only let out in a fenced area or on a run or leash.

I agree if you life in a more populated area. I live on a dead end country road. It's the only place I've ever lived. I've had a few dogs over my years but have never owned a pen or had one tied up. I am surounded by 320 acres of family and friend's land. I have full access to it all. There are ponds, barns and all kinds of fun stuff. There are less than 15 houses on my road and he is like a "celebrity" on our road. There are a few neighborhood dogs that get together and play. The guy called him up from one of the fields he was ok to be in. It's all Colt's land too. I live next door to my parents and around the perimeter of our properties there is literally a path of brown grass where he walks around our houses. It is weird but I have come outside at 2 or 3 am before to see him "doing his rounds" around the property like a guard in a prison lol

[Dane]

I used to live in a very rural area. I learned my lesson about letting my dog run loose when I had to tell my wife and kids that he was run over. He was a Great Dane so it could happen to any dog.
I also had a beagle get loose and got a call 3 years later from a vet clinic saying they had him. I drove 500 miles to get him and gladly paid his vet bill. I guess according to some people here I should have just called the cops and claimed my property?
Personally, so long as the rescue appeared on the up and up, I would pay the fee and thank the guy for taking care of my dog for the summer and go home. Then keep him contained to prevent much worse things from happening.

[vontar]

I know there have been things about picking up animals and charging re homing fees.  some people think they might be 2 aggressive in picking up animals.  Did your dogs have a micro chip and or collar/name tag to make it easy to locate you? If Microchip they should have scanned and got in touch quick.  If a collar/name tag, still questionable if a person would do the right thing or just try to get a re homing fee. 

 

For 80 bucks, Probably best count it as they took care of your pal for a few months.  

 

My concerns have been some local reports of pets being stolen and sold around Oak Ridge.

[wileecoyote]

I do understand what you guys that live in the rural areas are saying about it being a little different there, which I agree with.

 

I have lived with dogs and many other pets for more than 40 years in everything from tiny apartments in crowded downtown areas to small and large subdivisions to farms to remote mountain camps in the middle of nowhere, even places that had no electricity or phone or roads. I have seen friends and family members that had inside pets that were treated better than even their kids, and I have seen a lot of older guys that basically chained their dogs up to wooden huts in harsh winter climates and gave them barely enough to survive, sometimes just shooting a rabbit or some small game now and then and tossing the entire raw carcass to the dogs. And I have known many country folks that did what you are describing, basically letting their pets run loose outdoors whenever they wanted because they felt it was reasonably safe to do so in their area.

 

I still standby everything I said above, though, because letting your pet run loose is still risky to the health and well being of the pet, and it could be detrimental to your more distant neighbors or even just to strangers that are passing through the area. Sure, if you own a huge farm from 350 to 5000 acres or more then some of the risks such as being hit by a car are reduced, however most of the risks are still there and some risks increase such as being shot by hunters or attacked by natural predators. But at the end of the day each pet owner has to decide for themselves how to control their pets, which is a good thing that we are all free to decide how to live.

 

All I am saying is that if you opt to let them run loose off your property (which is still illegal) then don't be surprised or upset if they don't come home one day, they get injured or sick, or they cause some other problems that you have to deal with. And I certainly wouldn't be complaining about anyone finding your loose dog and taking it in or dropping it off at a shelter. That is fully legal and is the most humane thing to do, unless you know for sure that the pet is well cared for and is on his own land. What the OP described to start this thread is that someone found his loose dog approximately 800 feet away from his own land, which means that the dog was not on his home property and to the passing stranger must have appeared to be an abandoned or lost animal. A stranger would have no way of knowing about your family and neighbors or all the local dogs and their reputations, and your dog was obviously in an area where the stranger was able to pass by and see and collect the dog without being noticed, so I still call that an unsafe situation for the dog. By choosing to allow the dog to run loose off your land, you took those risks and in this case it cost you the companionship of a dear friend for 6 months, plus all the time and money you will have spent to get him back, and you actually came out of this quite lucky in that the dog is still alive and you are getting him back.

 

I currently live on more than 23 wooded acres which is surrounded by many much larger farms, in a fairly rural area, yet I love my dog enough and I respect my neighbors (and any passing strangers) enough not to let him run free. When he was younger and quick enough to rush out the door before I could close it, he did escape about a half dozen times and each time it was a hectic nerve-wracking experience for me to chase him down and bring him back before he got hurt or killed. On at least one occasion he nearly got hit by a car, on another he almost bit a local farmer, and on another he was jumped by a pack of larger dogs and I saved him just in time. That is when I built a large 100' x 30' fenced outdoor area for him and attached it to the house via a computerized pet door, so now he can go in and out all he pleases but he can't run away and other animals can't get to him or come inside. This was the best money I ever spent, wish I had done it a long time ago. I will never own another dog again without a similar setup. It sure beats the cost of wanted posters, trips to the shelters and vets, vet bills, re-homing fees, or the premature loss of a pet which I consider my most loyal best friend.

 

But to each his own, and I wish you and your pets all the best no matter how you handle them. Unless you abuse them then I wish you nothing but a life in hell.  :pleased:

[TMF]

Pay the fee for crying out loud. They fed and boarded your dog for several months. My dog eats way more than $80 in chow in that amount of time. If anything, these people have saved you money. Get your dog chipped.

My wife and I rescue strays all the time. We've had it happen on three occasions that people were pissed that we picked their dog out of the road and brought it home. They had the attitude that it would have returned home if we'd left it alone. How the **** am I supposed to know that???

When I see a dog running loose, I assume it has broken out, and I consider that the owner would be devastated if their dog ran away or was hit by a car. I always try to recover the animal. In two of the cases cited above, the dog had no tag and the other had the wrong address AND wrong phone number on their tag. We sheltered these animals, contacted the humane society and put ads online. We looked into ads posted online for missing animals. The owners in two of these cases were not so much as thankful, and seemed pissed that we recovered their pet. I should've thought to charge them a "rehoming" fee! At a standard rate which an animal boarder charges.

Micro chip your pet if you're gonna let him run loose. Make sure he has rabies tags and accurate owner tags. I've tracked down owners by calling the vet and having them look up the rabies tag on the animal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited October 17, 2014 by TMF

[Murgatroy]

My wife and I are suckers for animals. On many occasions we have wasted an entire afternoon, or weekend, trying to get a lost pet home. It is nerve wracking and to be frank, I don't enjoy it.

 

My dog is chipped, collared, tagged, etc... She doesn't go outside without a leash or on a chain.

 

There is nothing worse than finding a dog with zero information, then spending the entire day door knocking, and being yelled at, screamed and and generally treated like a thief when you finally do help poor little Fido get home. I think in the dozen times my wife and I have done this we have been thanked once. This last time we came the closest to giving up and taking the pet to a shelter, but thankfully after two days a young kid claimed the dog. Didn't say a word of gratitude, snatched it up and drug it home.

 

Breaks my heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If it were me and Bandit, I would pay the fee with tears in my eyes.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Murgatroy

[Motasyco]

All other considerations would be secondary for me.  Getting my dog back would be priceless.