If you haven't read my PP's here's a little back story before I start..
Found a stray dog no collar that's extremely underweight for a Labrador Retriever-Took him home, bought him weight builder food, water, a bath, and a cozy new bed with lots of love. Even though we fell completely in love with the dog and wished to keep him, we didn't know the owners' story.. so we searched up and down our community, online, vets, shelters, etc. for a missing report on him- we had no luck from Tuesday night through Wed. night, which is when we got him scanned for a microchip. We found a valid microchip and the Vet tracked the owner down and released my information (name & phone #) The owner called me and stated he'd only been missing for 1 day and a half. I was very worried about this since he was obviously that thin when he lived at home.
Before I called the owner, I covered my grounds by calling local humane society telling them I'm concerned about the welfare of the dog. Basically, the shelter couldn't do anything for me unless he was back at home and someone called in neglect on the owner. So I called the county dog warden, I never reached him. After talking to another shelter, I was told that I cannot legally keep the dog without the owner's concent. It was obvious that the owner wanted him back. I did not want to face being possibly sued or up to a $5k fine for "stealing her dog".
I was concerned that maybe he IS taken care of, but he's just sick, with internal parisites or something, and I'm jumping to conclusions by thinking the owner is neglecting him.. so I also called the vet where the dog goes, and I found out that he doesn't have an underlying health condition that would cause him to be so thin. But I forewarned them that he needs to be seen for healtcare ASAP so they promised they'd require her to bring him in immediately for a health evaluation.
so I finally brought myself to call the owner and I had a LOT of questions about the welfare of her dog. Why is he skinny? Why is his skin so beat red flaky with sores on his chest? Why that when we fed/watered him, he ate and drank like he never ate in his life? These were just questions from a concerned animal lover. There are a lot of crazy mean people out there. She FLIPPED out saying he's not skinny at ALL, he's very healthy, etc. It was clear that she was in denail. Not once did she thank me for keeping him safe, giving him a bath, buying him food, etc. She also admitted to me that she did not call ANYONE to report him missing. She just drove around the neighborhood looking for him.
I was at work through the whole thing, so I could not drop everything to take the dog to her. MAYBE if she was a little more sympathetic, and thankful that I kept her dog safe, and located her, MAYBE I would have left work right away. But since she didn't say Thank You once, I told her I would get him to her after 6pm.
So she CALLED THE POLICE ON ME. Left me two threatening voicemails because I would not give her my address to come get him (we were at work anyway). I didn't want the crazy woman knowing where I live, because WHO KNOWS.. maybe the next time he goes missing, she'd show up at my door accusing me of stealing him.
Regardless, the police understood the situation, and I appologized for the inconvenience..police officers do not have time for things like this. I left work, and with FI, we drove the dog out to her house and she was coward enough to not even be there. She forced her son to meet us at her house. I called the Humane Society and opened a case to cover my butt in case she tries to pin his poor health on me.
I've been an emotional basket case for the last 12 or so hours because we were so attatched to this dog, and he deserves a more caring owner. I'm so upset because I got a big reality check that when you try to do something good for someone, all you get is crapped on.