i really need advice (Long story)

[The Original Kao]

I have a great dane pup, she's 11 months old. i've had her since she was 16 weeks.
she isn't owned by me, my ex boss (who was my boss at the time i took on care of the dog) lives in america, she was brought into the yard where i worked to inject some money and to help sort it out. she bought this great dane pup when she was over as she thought she would be here a lot.
things went pear shaped with the yard, my other boss was kicked off, which left my other boss and me. she then went back to america and asked me to look after the dog for a month till it was old enough to be shipped over to america to stay there instead. (she hadn't intended on moving her out of the country until all that crap happened)
i was more than happy to look after her for a short while.
she then started to have family probs so asked me to keep the dog a bit longer. that was fine too.
by may time she then decided she just didn't have the time for the pup due to her family stuff and asked if i wanted to keep her.
i adore this dog, so jumped at the chance.
she was due to come back over in july to visit and pick up some stuff of hers that she'd left with me. plus she was bringing the dogs papers.
that didn't exactly happen. she cancelled on me then sprung a surprise visit the next day, stayed for 5 mins, packed up her clothes and told me her family situation had changed and she'd like the dog back to take over to america.
now i take time to process stuff so i never really got upset until she left. tho still felt like it was for the best. she costs more than my horse to feed and although we can afford to feed the dog, financially it was taking a small toll. (my ex boss always paid for the dogs food when we were looking after her)
she said she'd arrange an agent to deal with shipping her over. we got an email saying she'd call me to fill me in on everything and i haven't heard from her since.
i've sent many emails as has my partner cause he's just fed up with the whole situation and wants to keep the dog.
my parents are telling me to put her into kennels, which i would never do. she'd hate it.
i'd be glad if she wasn't going cause her going off with a stranger to be shipped in a crate for 12 hours with no human contact would be torture for her

then off to complete strangers to live

i'd be worried that the journey would kill her

danes are very susceptible to bloat if they're stressed.
i'm in limbo. july i cancelled my dog insurance and put off spending a lot of money on a crate to fit her.
do i just presume she doesn't want the dog anymore and get on with my life? get insurance and sort out the things we need?
i just feel she'll appear soon enough wanting her dog and i hate living like this

i wouldn't fight her in court as we're skint and she's mega rich. plus she has been a great friend in the past. don't know why she's treating us like crap now tho

thanks for reading. some coffee and tunnocks tea cakes for you if you made it this far

 

[CAYLA]

There is no bloody way she would get that dog back of me, we have dealt with a few court cases re dog ownership...and never lost

Is she chipped?
Is she insured at present?
Have you had her to the vets? and is the record in your name?

How long has she been in your care to presnt date? has she kept in regular contact/paid for her keep, ins, e,t,c.?

Is ther any written documentation in regard to this being a non permanent situation?

 

[CheziBrown]

Sounds like she is taking the P**s big time.

It's difficult because the dog is technically her "property".

I'd send her a letter - make sure it is tracked though - if she is in America you could prob send it parcel force or something so you know she would get it. Just say she needs to make arrangements by X date to take the dog, if she doesn't you will have to assume that the previous arrangement stands i.e that she has passed ownership of the dog to yourself.

If she wants to take court action against you then as she is the Claimant she would have to start the process and pay court fees etc. If she was sucessful she could ask the court to order costs against you but I would think that as long as you could show that you were acting in the best interests of the dog and you had proof to show her behaviour then you could apply to the court for her to bare her own costs.

Have you read the Animals Act to see if there is anything in there that could help you ? I've not seen it for a while so can't remember if there is anything in there that could help but would be worth a look. You should be able to download from the internet.

 

[CAYLA]

Just re-read, she said u could keep the dog u both agreed, then she changed her mind, no way hosay would she be getting tat dog back....I personally dont think she would have a leg to stand on legally....u have had the dog 7 months in total....also the dog is in your hands...therfor u have the advantage.

How long had you had her b4 she ecided you could keep her...then how long after that did she decide she wanted her back?
I would phone her and tell her, you have had the dog along time, and you have become very attached, tell her you have insured, chipped...(if not already done by her) since she agreed u could keep her.....also inform her she owes u board and charge her board...for a dog that size u are talking on average of £25 per night board.

 

[Parkranger]

Verbal agreement though - not worth the paper it's written on!

I do however think you have a good case too - write to her and say that she passed ownership to yourself and you are now keeping her. I wouldn't transport a dane that far - they're prone to heart attacks anyway.

Suggest she gets a dane in the US - if you PM me I'll pass dane breeder details to you - my parents used to breed Danes at top level so can give you the ones to avoid!

Pm me her name - love to know if she's related to one of our old dogs - Valedane was the family

 

[The Original Kao]

[ QUOTE ]
There is no bloody way she would get that dog back of me, we have dealt with a few court cases re dog ownership...and never lost

Is she chipped?
Is she insured at present?
Have you had her to the vets? and is the record in your name?

How long has she been in your care to presnt date? has she kept in regular contact/paid for her keep, ins, e,t,c.?

Is ther any written documentation in regard to this being a non permanent situation?

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks for the replies

as far as i know she isn't chipped and i cancelled my insurance when she came over at the end of july wanting the dog back.
i've had her since the beginning of february.
she has been to the vet where my ex boss had an account so it was all in her name. (she was in for vaccs)
she has been in regular contact up until may time, then it wasn't very much as she'd given the dog to us. i kept in touch with updates on us and the dogs.
now the contact is nil. tried calling her but her mobile is cut off.
she had always paid for food tho not exactly regularly. we never knew when she was going to be getting the dog from feb till may so whenever she said she needed more time she'd put money into my bank to cover food if we needed it.
i've never charged fees for looking after the dog, we have always treated her as part of the family (even got her a sofa bed to sleep on at night

)
i do want to add that this lady did something amazing for me when she was my boss, something no one has ever done and probably never will again. and i don't think i could ever thank her enough. she barely knew me at the time. i do feel i still owe her for that

if she hadn't i wouldn't be feeling so torn i guess and i would just tell her where to go

nearly missed the last part there Cala, no there's no written documentation as such. some emails, that's it. nothing signed by either of us.

 

[CheziBrown]

Even if she did do something really kind for you, it's still the dog that is important and it's not fair to distupt his life or yours for that.

You don't have to make it get nasty but need to know where you stand etc.

Definately think it would be best first of all to send a letter explaining the situation and how you don't think it would be fair for her to travel all that way, how distressing it would be, how settled she is etc.

Hope it all works out well x

 

[CAYLA]

Agree with Chezibrown......try and have a chat or write a letter, it's clear you dont wan to get into a strung out battle with her, so try and appeal to her better side...if you was good to u once she could be ok with you again.

But i she pushed it and demanded her back...then u must decide if tha is an option for you and if not...u wil have to stand your ground.
She does still have a vet account and can prove she send u money for up keep even if not consistent....so she does have a good case herself.
Can anyone else vouch that she gave her to you at one stage?

 

[The Original Kao]

i still have emails from her giving the dog to us. but that's it.
i've emailed her again today. i'll give her a few days then try the letter route if i can dig out her address. she wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper in july so it may have been binned by now, or eaten by the dog

we had always crated her if we went out so never knew she liked shredding paper.

 

[CAYLA]

If the E.mail stated that she said you could keep her, then personally...I think thats good enough proof, it a step better than verbal, I think you should set up a new vet account in your name, at another vets if need be, and get her chipped asap, and re start her insurance, this will help your case, esp if she allows alot of time to lapse b4 contacting you again.

 

[jtriebs]

Oh poor you that's a horrid situation to be in. If she did something so kind for you, hopefully that means she's a nice person and has the dog's best interests at heart- and she can't be that attached anymore if she told you you could keep her.
Surely it'd be better all round if the dog stayed with you and she found herself a new one in America if her situation now allows this.
The problem is obviously communication- you need to speak to her about it as just doing nothing and waiting to see what happens next from her part must be horrible. After all that waffling I'm not sure what to advise other than getting in touch and speaking to her about it rather than going down a confrontational route, especially if you feel you "owe" her.
Could she just be on holiday/ computer broken etc? Or thinking about what you said in your emails about wanting to keep the dog?
FWIW I think the dog is now yours and she couldn't have just informed you she wanted him back.