dog trauma = help please!!

[maisie]

Sorry - have posted in dog room as well but desperate!! - sent my rescue dog into vets to be spayed and microchipped today and it turns out she is already microchipped - I got her through the vets as she was dumped by gypsies when she was injured and they wouldn't pay the bill - they wanted her to be put down and the vets wouldn't do it and asked me if I would have her - now worried she might have been stolen by the gypsies and actually belongs to someone else. Have had her for a year and as you can imagine I am distraught - where do I stand in all this????

 

[_jetset_]

I am not sure where you stand legally, but you need to find out who she belongs to. I know someone who had her dog stolen by gypsies two years ago and she has never stopped wondering where he is! I know it would be horrible for you to find out she had been stolen but surely you would want someone to contact you if the shoe was on the other foot.

I am so sorry about this response, I know it is probably not what you wanted to hear... the vet can use the microchip to trace the owners.

 

[henryhorn]

If you know her microchip number there is a site somewhere run by a woman they featured on tv a couple of weeks ago, the micro number may well be advertised or a pic pic of the lost dog..
I have to say in your position I would probably be selfish and try and keep quiet..The vets themselves may not say anything as they would have been negligent not checking her previous microchip..
Or perhaps use a box postal number to write to the owners via the microchipping place saying the dog is fine and happy..At least then they can reply and tell you any circumstances.
I am aware loads of people will say hand her back but I do understand you now love her dearly so would find it hard to do so..

 

[Vey]

I think for your own peace of mind you have to find out. the micro chip company will tell you the name and address they have on record. But when you contact the owner, assuming they are not the gypsies, do tell them how terrible you feel, etc. If It were my dog, I think I would let them stay with the new owner, but be just so glad to know they were safe and sound.

My own rescue came through the RSPCA - but was microchipped by her previous owners who abandoned her. Yours, too amy ahve been chipped by a dog charity, who most definitly will not want her back!

 

[Maesfen]

Tricky one, you really will have to take advice - but not sure who from!
Have your vets been in this situation before, perhaps they can help; they'll certainly know all the chipping companies who keep records. If they can trace the owner (they might have moved themselves and not left contact details thinking dog was gone for good) it will depend whether the old owner wants it back I suppose; if they have already got another dog then perhaps they won't be able to cope with two, you never know until you try to contact them, even though it could mean heartbreak for you.
Alternatively, you and your vet could stay quiet about it so no one is any the wiser but that isn't really an honorable thing to do especially if you put yourself in the old owner's shoes - after all, they did bother enough to have it chipped and wouldn't you like to know the dog is safe at least?
This happened in reverse for a friend; her lurcher was stolen from her garden and never found, 15 months later she gets a call from a rescue centre saying it had been found after gypsies left it at a site; because it was chipped it was traceable. Dog came back and apart from having some extra scarring and being a bit wary for a while, settled in as if it had never been away but owner has nightmares imagining what on earth had happened to it while it was away.

Good luck anyway, hope it can be sorted to your advantage.

 

[foraday]

Firstly you have to do the right thing and ask for the microchip to be traced. There may be a very worried owner frantically looking and wondering about what happened to their dog. I know I would be desperate if my dog was taken.

You may be worrying about nothing and the dog may have been microchipped by a dog home.

If the owners are there they will do whats best for the dog as they would love the dog. you can always take the dog for visits. One cannot start to think about if the owner was a very eldery man/woman and their only company was their dog!!!

You should not keep quiet about it-how would you feel if your horse was stolen and someone down the road kept quiet because they found the freezemark/microchip!

 

[Onyxia]

Tough one, TBH I would be very tempted to say nothing.
BUT the dog may have been a childs pet or as sugested the only company of an elderly person.
Either way, do the right thing, try to trace the owners(they might have moved/not want or b able to have dog back).
A few years ago my yorkie went missing, I was lucky to get him back form Battersea a few days later but was heartbroken all the time he was gone.Imagine how his origanal owners must be feeling.

 

[lordflynn]

I might be wrong in this but remember reading an article about this a couple of years back-your vets are not legally required to contact past owners/vets-you are their client and they have confidentiality to consider. a microchip wasnt in itself legal proof of ownership but not sure if this is now out of date. I think it boils down to your own conscience-you have had the dog a year? and the previous owners may have had her up to how long?

Its a horrible position to be in and I'm not sure what I would do. However, if I lost one of mine I would want to know where he was and have the option of getting him back. sorry-good luck.

 

[Tia]

Why did the vets not do the responsible thing in the first place and scan her when she was brought in! This should have been done as a matter of course.

Anyhow it doesn't help you in the slightest and I can just imagine how terribly upsetting and confusing this is for you. I honestly couldn't say what I would do until I was in that situation.......very very difficult.

 

[Cobnut1]

Possesion is nine tenths of the law...you got this dog in good faith....the dog is yours.

 

[Happy Bird]

That's such an awful thing !! You probably don't want to hear this but can you also have to imagine how her previous owners might be feeling...... they might be missing their dog desperately.

On the other hand, it is awful for you as you love her !!

I can't imagine what I would do in that situation ! Very difficult !

Do vets have a legal obligation to report that they have found the dog (ie. to the micro chip company??)

 

[moocow]

Do you have a good relationship with your vet? Why don't you ask your vet to contact the original owner and explain the situation. sus out whether or not she was stolen. If she was, get the vet to explain that the dog was going to be put down but you rescued her and that the dog has a very happy new home and an new owner that loves her very much. if it was me I would want to know where my dog was. I think the happiness of the doggy is the important part. The orig owners I am sure would just want to know that their dog is alive and well. i think you need to tell them though. Good luck whatever you decide

 

[Tia]

If it was any of my dogs though that had gone missing a year ago and I heard that she was alive then I would definitely want her back. The dog belongs to the original owner, I would think, as far as the law would see it. Stolen property always reverts to the original owner.

Very very tricky situation and I certainly don't envy the poster one bit as I am sure she doesn't want to give the dog back to the original owner. What a nightmare!