Help please with getting our dog back

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Are you back on speaking terms with your wife? could you both not report him stolen to the police? The should investiagte and if you have your wife there backing your story up it shouldnt be too difficult to get him back. How come you havent contacted the police already? This has been going on a while now x

UN17ED

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

Also worth contacting all the local vets as they will then be on alert for your dog. The vets will also be aware of this "rescue" person and be able to advise of any other issues there may be.

As part of him being microchipped all vets, rescue etc in a 30 mile radius are contacted by the company who does the microchipping and are supposed to alert us if he turns up.

So far up to Friday night just gone there was nothing on any of their logs.

UN17ED

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

Are you back on speaking terms with your wife? could you both not report him stolen to the police? The should investiagte and if you have your wife there backing your story up it shouldnt be too difficult to get him back. How come you havent contacted the police already? This has been going on a while now x

Yes thankfully its been difficult but thats a whole different long story.

I did contact the police a few weeks ago and they spoke to the lady on my behalf and she still maintained that we had treated him badly and she was not handing him back. (We hadnt treated badly at all, he was spoilt and got treated better by my wife than me :rotfl:)

The police said that its not a civil matter and that I should contact a solicitor.

But with whats been going on and trying to sort the marriage out then we havent done it.

Mrs_Arcanum

UN17ED wrote: »

As part of him being microchipped all vets, rescue etc in a 30 mile radius are contacted by the company who does the microchipping and are supposed to alert us if he turns up.

So far up to Friday night just gone there was nothing on any of their logs.

Wondering if any vets have any other information about this rescue person. May be that the vets themselves have concerns over her methods.

Have you tried an advert in the local paper? May be the best way to get the attention of the new owners.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

couldnt RSPCA advise? they'd know if she was registered surely?

hethmar

Normally if you take a rescue dog you sign an agreement that you will return the dog if you are unable to care for him and the rescue is then able to rehome the dog again. If your wife signed the agreement then she would be deemed the owner of the dog.

£30 for a week's boarding is VERY cheap - it would normally be closer to about £80. Are you sure of the facts that your wife gave you? And did the lady keep the dog longer than the week apparently agreed?

Did you chip him or the rescue before you got him? If its the rescue and you didnt pay to change the ownership of the dog/chip then the rescue will be recorded as the owner still.

UN17ED

hethmar wrote: »

Normally if you take a rescue dog you sign an agreement that you will return the dog if you are unable to care for him and the rescue is then able to rehome the dog again. If your wife signed the agreement then she would be deemed the owner of the dog.

£30 for a week's boarding is VERY cheap - it would normally be closer to about £80. Are you sure of the facts that your wife gave you? And did the lady keep the dog longer than the week apparently agreed?

Did you chip him or the rescue before you got him? If its the rescue and you didnt pay to change the ownership of the dog/chip then the rescue will be recorded as the owner still.

We got him chipped so we are as far as we are concerned his owners.

The lady didnt want to take money and it was agreed that she would take the dog for just 1 week.

My wife did sign a document when we first got him so she is supposed to be officially his owner.

I dont think my wife would lie about the dog because she absolutely adored him.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Hm having the chip in your name does not necessarily make you the legal owners.

They SHOULD however, contact you if the dog ends up in a pound etc

I would personally go with your wife to the ladys house and demand the dog back, if she refuses, ring the police again whilst your there

UN17ED

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

Hm having the chip in your name does not necessarily make you the legal owners.

They SHOULD however, contact you if the dog ends up in a pound etc

I would personally go with your wife to the ladys house and demand the dog back, if she refuses, ring the police again whilst your there

The police advised me that if I go to the lady's house then I would get arrested for breach of the peace!

I would go there straight away but I dont fancy getting arrested.

What would we need to do to prove we are/were the legal owners?

kazschow

As Mimi Arc en Ciel says, micro chipping isn't any proof of ownership in the eyes of the law. It's a difficult one and a particularly gray area unfortunately. What documantation were you given when you rescued him in the first place? This is more likely to be better proof. However many rescues maintain ownership of the dog and give you permenant foster type status. Organisations like the dogs trust keep legal ownership of the dogs they home, in that scenario, they can reclaim the dog at any time they want.

In the eyes of the law a dog is not a scentient being it's a chattle and as such a reciept, is more important that a chip. I have pedegree dogs, when I got them I made a legal finacial transaction, that has a paper trail, with the breeder. Even in Pedigree cases, you don't always fully own the dog you buy, but, it's agreed before the transaction takes place, this is usually because a breeder may eventually want to use a dog as a stud if it proves it's self, or use the !!!!! for pups.

I think youhave to go back haul out everything youhave pertaining to the initial rescue and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Best of luck.