Imagine the sadness you would feel should your dog(s) become lost, especially when due to someone else’s negligence.

Now add to this that, unbeknownst to you, the dog(s) were found by another person, and ultimately sold to someone else.This is exactly what happened to the Hunt family in the Houston area. The family’s two beagles got out of their backyard after a utility worker failed to close the gate completely. The family immediately began looking for their family pets and posting notices on the internet. They even contacted the Montgomery County Animal Shelter and drove the neighborhood multiple times looking for their pets.

The two dogs, Lucky and Hopscotch, were found by someone else and taken to the Houston Beagle and Hound Rescue. According to the Woodland News, “The rescue group claims it legally took ownership of the two dogs and adopted them out to a new home almost a month after the dogs were found wandering a Woodlands neighborhood.” Houston attorney Zandra Anderson, who specializes in Texas animal law issues, says that the rescue had no authority over the animals. Anderson says “Dogs are property. There is a two-year statute of limitations on property. If someone’s property is lost, the owner is not giving up rights because the property is lost. Rescue organizations have no right to impound animals, none.” 

Officials with the rescue say that they make no efforts to find the owners of lost dogs that make their way into their program. Yet, in an email to The Villager, Sandra Kos, founder of the rescue, stated that her organization does its best to reunite families with their lost pets. The rescue adopted out the two beagles for a fee of $250 each, and declined to reveal when the dogs were adopted out. The Hunt family provided proof to the rescue that the two beagles belonged to them. When the family learned that the dogs were living at a nearby home, they went to these “new owners” and were told that no, they could not have the dogs back. The family has even offered to pay the rescue and the “new owners” to get their dogs back. They are still being denied their pets, and property, to be returned to them.

Attorney Anderson states “In Texas, when an owner is trying to find their dogs, they have not abandoned the dogs and have lost no interest in the dogs. The rescue organization, according to the law, is considered a finder of lost property and have no rights in that property unless the owner never comes forward…If the owner comes forward, the (rescue group and adopter) have a legal obligation to give those dogs back…They have no legal authority to keep a dog from an owner. They will say, ‘Well, we have adopted the dog.’ No. What they have done is taken someone’s lost property and sold it.”

What would you do if this happened to you? Look at your state statutes to find if your state lists dogs and cats as Personal Property and what the statutes say about the theft or loss of the property. Document your pet with registration papers, photos (of the pet alone at different views, and another of the pet with you, of the pet in your home and/or yard), veterinary records, microchip or tattoo, and of course, the collar with rabies tag. Document your pets color, size, shape, breed, markings (are there any unique markings), eye color (be sure to distinguish if one eye is a different color than the other), physical habits or characteristics, personality, anything you can think of that would distinguish the pet as yours.

Sadly, this type of incident happens more than any of us know. Protect yourself as much as you can to prevent not being able to get your loved pet returned to you, should this unfortunate thing happen.

Researched and Written by Debi R***