Missing dog found four years later sparks rift between owners, old and new

[Kaira]

Thought this was an interesting situation - something you don't expect too often. A man found his missing dog after four years but it seems like the new owner doesn't want to give the dog up. The man is planning to take legal action. Any thoughts or what would have you done in this situation?


http://www.theprovince.com/life/Mis...sparks+rift+between+owners/4151016/story.html

Even four years after Jamie Gillespie’s dog went missing from his Ladner home, he always kept his eye peeled for her, doing double takes from time to time when he’d see a similar dog. “I always told my friends, I’m going to find her one day,” he said of Cleo, the Blue Heeler-cross he got as a pup for his young daughter. “I kept her picture on my desk. I’ve always had a feeling that I’d find her.”

Gillespie couldn’t believe his eyes when he spotted Cleo tied up at the Choices Market on Cambie Street near 19th Avenue last week. “It was the very first dog that I went up to and thought it was her,” he said. “She’s a beautiful, friendly, fantastic little dog.”
Confident he could prove it was his dog because he had had her tattoo’d, he waited for the owner. She told him she’d got the dog from a friend.

Eventually bystanders called police and they accompanied the distraught new owner to the nearby vet’s clinic to check the tattoo. Cleo’s tattoo was traced back to Gillespie’s Delta vet’s office, which listed him as the owner, although there was some confusion over the first letter of the coded tattoo.

Gillespie was surprised when her vet’s office told him that the woman had adopted the dog from an Abbotsford animal shelter and now he wants to get to the bottom of the mystery. “What I want to know is, how did she get from Ladner to Abbotsford?”
He has the new owner’s name and number, but The Province was unable to contact the woman on Saturday. Although he said he doesn’t want to break anyone’s heart, he and his daughter both would like to have Cleo back.

“I really miss her. She was very obedient, very loving,” said Kira, now 13, who had Cleo as a pet from age six to nine. “I keep her picture at my school and on Facebook.”
She said she was happy to learn Cleo was still alive, but “I was pretty upset to learn another woman had her.” His vet, Dr. Kevin Harris of Trennant Pet Park Clinic, who said Cleo was tattoo’d at his clinic, said he tried without luck to find the shelter the dog was adopted from.

Harris said the new owner needs to produce proof of legal ownership from the animal shelter to settle the dispute. “I’m sure she didn’t do anything wrong,” Gillespie said of the new owner. “When I told her this used to be my dog, she got very upset. I didn’t blame her. ”Gillespie said police told him the inability to trace the dog to him four years ago was probably due to human error and that he should consider getting another dog.

“My daughter said she (the new owner) should get another dog,” he said. He said he may consider legal action to have Cleo returned. If she is, Kira said she wouldn’t keep her from the woman who owns her now. “I would probably let her visit her,” she said.

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[Colorado]

Nice doggie.

I say they both stand at opposites sides call the dog and which ever he picks should take him home.

 

[clorox ribbon]

After 4 years the dog is going to remember his original owner???.

 

[Terrier (UK)]

I think King Solomon's judgment is correct in this case, someone get the sword.

 

[jimbad05]

4 years gone by I'd get another dog.

 

[GUERA33]

I'm with you, I'd be happy to know that she had a nice home with someone who cared for her. Afterall, it seems the new owner has had her for longer than the original owners did.

What I'd like to know is how they lost her to begin with? To me, that doesn't indicate responsible dog ownership......

This reminds me of a movie, a family's son is kidnapped/lost at 6 from a hotel or ?? and then found 10 yrs later. He was adopted by a responsible family (nothing underhanded) but the kid spent more years with the new family and when brought "home" he couldn't adapt.......

 

[Rasmah.com]

Personally I would have let go by now

 

[Possibly Right]

What's the point of tattooing his ear if the shelter doesn't check it out and learn his identity?
They should pay for a new dog for the family.

 

[dottiesunfish]

well, with all the BS we've heard about shelters these days, mistreatment, etc, this is the least of their worries.....

Since the pooch wasn't a pure bred I'd say let them have the pick of any dog at the shelter....(only after it was checked for tattoos though lol)

 

[Old Fat Bald Guy]

I say let them have 2 dogs for free, and also give 2 dogs to each of the lawyers.
Make them pay for the shots though.

 

[Tom J [IS LOSTED]]

You would think after 4 years they would have picked up another mutt. I'd be curious if the dog has any recollection of it's previous owner.