Question:
Okay, here's the situation to the best of my memory:
A couple and their two young children had to leave their house on short notice because of toxic mold and their two children were very ill. They have an intact female Dalmation which was given to them by a neighbour which they left in the yard with food and water and asked the neighbours to watch her. The owners also visited everyday but left her in the yard overnight for 6 weeks.
A woman was looking for a new home in the same neighbourhood. She also happens to be the head of a humane society. She sees the dog without a collar, scruffy and with blood on her belly (due to her being in heat) and asks the neighbours about the dog. The neighbour said that the owners had abandoned the dog and the neighbour didn't want the dog anymore and the woman could take it if she wanted. So the woman takes the dog to her vet and has her spayed and vaccinated asap.
The owner claims that she contacted the lady BEFORE the spay operation was carried out but the woman ignored her wish that her dog be kept intact and carried out the operation anyway. The woman says that the operation was done BEFORE the owner contacted her.
Let's say that HYPOTHETICALLY, that the owner DID contact the woman before the operation.
Do you think the woman should have respected the owner's wishes and kept the dog intact?
Do you think the owner should bear the costs of the operation since it was done without her consent?


Answer:
That's a tough call. You said they were visiting everyday but then the neighbour said that they abandoned the dog. Was it the owners who claimed to be visiting everyday? Without a collar, I would consider the dog a stray...that dog should have definitely had a collar being outside 24/7. It sounds to me as if the owner is just trying to get $$$ out of the situation. I think that the lady from the Humane Society did the right thing...and I really doubt that the owner contacted her before the operation. Even if she did, is she now trying to claim money that would have be made by breeding the dog? IMHO, no responsible breeder would leave their dog for 6 weeks (even if they were checking on her everyday).


Answer:
exactly Candice, I odnt care the circumstances theres NO WAY Sasha would be staying alone outside for that amount of time, I wouldnt even let her for the night,m and I dont care if the pope is going to visit her, she is my baby and theres no way i could leave her behind,,,,if the people had to move out becuase of mold why didnt they take the dog with them???? did they plan on moving back into the house? I think the humane society did the right thing,,,,,


Answer:
I don't know where this happened but... if that was to happen in Ottawa... and the neighbor told the HS woman that they had abandoned it... she should take that as 'heresay'... the dog should have been taken to the HS for the stray-time (in Ottawa its 3 days)... that way if the neighbor was lying as apparently the owner says he was... the owner would have had 3 days to come to the shelter and claim her dog. Now since she claims that she was going to the home everyday to feed & water the dog then she would have noticed on DAY 1 that the dog had been removed... so in my opinion the owner is full of it and just trying to get money out of her. How long did this woman from the HS wait until she had the dog spayed? If it was after the stray period.. she was within her rights b/c if the dog is not claimed within the stray time it then becomes the property of the HS... this is just how it works in Ottawa. It could be different elsewhere though...
Another thing that I just thought of.. did this HS woman take the dog to her home or to the HS??
BTW, how did Judge Judy rule on this??


Answer:
I bet you Judge Judy didnt give the people money .,.she was probably on the HS side, she is a dog lover and shes very invloved in rasiing money for stray dogs and shelters


Answer:
Brandy, you're right I love Judge Judy and watched this episode yesterday. It was a beautiful, calm, dalmatian too


Answer:
I actually see this from the OWNERS side (no one smack me please) BUT when Melissa was in the hospital I had two dogs, Grizzly and a cocker spaniel Dee. I loved both those dogs like they were my kids but as any parent KNOWS you have to go with your HUMAN children over your animals no matter WHAT you want to do. Anyway Melissa was in the hospital for 8 weeks, The first week I actually was in such a state of shock and confusion I forgot I had two dogs at home. We had left them with a tub full of water (when I went into labor again early figuring wed be gone two days, they'd stop labor like they did the first three times). And there big bag of 20 lbs of food open so they could reach as well asthere bowl full JUST IN CASE.
Well at 2 am one morning I call my MIL to rush over an hour away fromt here house to MINE to get my dogs, they brought htem back only to have Grizzly and Sid go at it so bad they thought they were going to KILL each other. They had no garage and no way to seperate TWO BIG dogs along with my third medium sized boy Dee. So in steps my parents, who takes my indoor couch potoato dogs to live with dog houses on tie outs outside 24/7 for the 8 weeks I was gone. Would I have given up my two dogs one I had for 5 years and loved like one of my kids, the other that id had for 2 that my daughter was so attached to that htey slept together every nap and she NEVER made a move without that dog by her side NO WAY I knew that eventually one way or another id be back home and my dogs would come back to me.
Flash to a MONTH later I had only been able to visit them ONCE (call me a bad pet owner but when you have a baby on deaths door 2 hours one way from where your dogs are you dont go viisit) Now I had my parents "caring " for my dogs, and I truthfully HATE how they care for there dogs but at the time there were no other options even my INLAWS tried letting the boys be outside but the barking constinatly made the neighbors complain (there in town my parents out int he country).
I get back a week later as she had been upgraded in condition to spend some time with the kids OUT of a hosptial situation they had been being brought to Ronald Mc Donald house to see is every other day, And I walk out to see DEE GONE, they swore he gotten loose I KNEW the collar wasnt loose I knew the chain wasnt bad as I had CHECKED THEM the week before. THEY got tired of him (they never liked him to begin with) nad htey gave him away, you can BET if id been able to prove it id have taken them to court in a HEARTBEAT.
I found him over a year later when he was basking outside in a lady's yard miles away (between my town nad my parents town) I went back talked to neighbors they verified he arrived about same apprx time talked tothe woman and she swore a realtive gave her to him (not what neighbors said) but I know she was lonely and alone and was thinking I was here to take him back (which I wouldnt have done) and it gave me peace to know he was safe and loved.
NOW To this situation wtih my LONG background behind this, WHo's to say the neighor who was "taking care of" the dog didnt tire of it? If they HAD to be out of there house for medical reason's for your or your childs lives and are planning to still keep the dog and had someoen caring for them, and came and visitied as often as possible I think it was totally wrong of the woman to step in IF SHE DID hear from them before hand the dog should NEVER have had the surgery , if she didnt they shouldnt be given any money but the woman shouldnt be compinsated as well and IF they could prove they were bak to a position to care for the dog then they should have gotten it back.
Okay theres my unpopular opinion


Answer:
The woman from the humane organization tried to sue the owner for vet costs of the spaying and vaccinations and the owner countersued for the loss incurred 'cos she couldn't breed her dog anymore. Judge Judy had NO sympathy for the dog owner AT ALL and told her that several times and that the owner should have boarded her dog at a kennel (the owner argued it was cruel to keep the dog in a kennel instead of the yard at home ) The owner's family had to move to a small apartment for the time being and couldn't take the dog with them. I don't think the owner mentioned whether they were going back to the house (after the mold problem is solved) or looking for a new one.
But Judge Judy also didn't award money to the woman from the humane society 'cos she took the dog to her own vet not the HS. I think it's because of the conflicting information about whether the owner contacted the woman BEFORE or AFTER the operation. Judge Judy said that it's the organization's responsibility to pay for it. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details but no one got any money in that case.
The case happened somewhere in the US, not Canada for sure. I'm trying to find it in the Judge Judy video archives It was shown on Friday, Dec 5.


Answer:
Christy, the owners do have their dog back They brought her with them to the courtroom, like Lisa said, she's a beautiful dalmation.
I think there's a degree of difference between your situation and theirs. Being in labour is a lot different from dealing with toxic mold. The owner said she came back to pack up their stuff and clean, so I don't think her kids needed her attention 24/7, then when her kids got better, they came to play with the dog during the day.
Judge Judy felt the owner was too cheap to board her dog at a kennel instead of leaving it in the yard which is probably why the owner didn't get much sympathy. And I also think that the neighbour shouldn't have said they abandoned it, maybe the neighbour just got tired of looking after the dog, 6 weeks is a long time.


Answer:
AH if she had her dog back then thats a totally diffrent story and sueing because she couldnt breed her anymore is just STUPID.
Neither should have gotten money and your right the neighbor was the cause of the fact the dog being taken the first time and in 6 weeks if they werent in seriouse health problems they should have found something to do with the dog instead of leave it there, thean agin in this day and age dogs are still treated like lawn ortanments Ask my parents with 4 dogs and a new litter of puppies AGAIN UGH