[Boxerluv]

So today found another stray/loose dog. Super sweet girl who looks exactly like Abby(when she was younger, less grey, and her fur wasn't crappy from her allergies). We originally spotted her yesterday near a gas station by our house then this morning she showed up in our yard and we took her in. Now we already have 4 dogs(plus a cat) two of which aren't very good with other dogs and Abby who's just bitchy towards strange dogs in the house(she's fine outside) so I'm not to sure how long we can keep her. She's spayed, but no chip however considering her condition and everything she's gotta be someones pet.

But yeah my parents aren't to keen on a 5th dog in the house. So I'm trying desperately to locate her owners. i've litterally posted on every posisble FB page/group I can think of, left info with vets, called AC to report her found etc. We can probably keep her a few more days, but that depends on my parents.

I've already got a possible back up incase we can't find owners, but that's not 100% though I'm sure she's a dog that we could find a home for instantly. She is pretty shy/nervous in certain situations so something I'll try and work on and if she goes to someone I know I'll continue to work with her etc.

But yeah how long is long enough to start looking for a potential new home? I really want to find this girls owner because I completely believe she's someones pet that got out and considering how much she looks like Abby makes me think about how I would feel if my girlie was the one missing....

Tomorrow I'm taking her around the neighborhood to post fliers so hopefully something will come up...

 

[Cynna]

Posting flyers and contacting your local SPCA are generally the best things to do imo. Many people don't have access to social media or wouldn't know where to look online. But if they're searching a neighbourhood, they'll see a flyer.

 

[TiggerBounce]

Call your local animal control.

Most counties have a stray hold for a specific number of days that you'll have to follow before you can legally rehome her.

In my area, it's 15 days. If you find a dog, you have 15 days where you must practice due diligence to finding the owner, and give the legal owner a chance to claim their dog. Posting found ads, checking CL, newspaper, local FB groups etc. On the 16th day, you become legally responsible for the dog and can keep it or rehome it as you see fit.

It can vary by location though, so you'll have to call. You also probably have to report her to them as a found dog too. Most people immediately will begin checking the shelters if they lose their dog. So they need her details and your contact info that way if somebody reports a lost dog that matches, they can get a hold of you.

 

[Boxerluv]

She's already been reported to AC as found and the stray hold for our county is 5 days(thought people tend to immediately rehome without first exhausting all efforts to find the owner)But yeah they have a pic of her along with my info and I'm sending them a flier so they can put it on their lost/found board. I've also left my info with several vets in the area as well.

I have posted on CL, different fb groups, our neighborhoods nextdoor site, and we are putting up fliers today!
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Boxerluv]

So contacted them and their stray hold is actually 3-5 days. So it depends but I feel like 3 days isn't enough time to give the owners a chance to find their dog
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[SusanLynn]

BoxerLuv,

I appreciate all you're doing to try to find the owner. I agree that 3 days is not enough, and personally I'd keep up an active search for the owner for two weeks. I'm glad that you'll be posting fliers around town as not all folks are computer-savvy.

This girl's lucky she found you.

 

[Rain]

I'd try contacting the animal shelters, and vets in neighboring counties.

I've heard of cases where people move and the dog gets out and tries to get back to their old home, or the person will have someone in a neighboring county pet sitting and the dog gets out.

 

[TiggerBounce]

So contacted them and their stray hold is actually 3-5 days. So it depends but I feel like 3 days isn't enough time to give the owners a chance to find their dog
Posted via Mobile Device

Just make sure you were specific with them in asking.

The stray hold for city and county shelters in my county is 96 hours. 4 days. That's how long the shelters are legally required to hold an animal. On the fourth day, they can deem the animal unadoptable and euthanize. On the fifth day, they may offer it to the public for adoption.

But for citizens who find a dog and wish to foster it, the hold increases to 15 days.

I'm guessing the logic is that people should be able to find and claim their lost dog much faster at a shelter because it's a public resource that people know to check. When it's an individual that has a dog, it can be a lot harder or more challenging for them to locate one another. If I find a dog, I may rely a lot on FB to network. An elderly person may not have FB or know how to utilize groups that network. I can put up flyers in the area the dog was found, but my city is huge and spans lots of square miles. If the dog was picked up and moved, relocated, stolen etc. then the original owners may never see flyers either. The Classifieds in the newspaper is the only universal thing the city has for trying to locate strangers, but now a lot of people don't even subscribe. More time would allow word to get around more and account for these issues.

So, it's just something to look into and verify. I got into this because a young person I know acquired a husky that was found that she couldn't keep for stray hold. She was giving it away. The person she gave it to then also tried to give it away because his parents said no. I think the dog probably went through the hands of about 7 children that day (I say children, but they were teenagers to early 20's). My coworker eventually ended up with the dog and I was able to tell her that he is essentially a stolen animal at that point because I recognized him from other photos. She was able to locate the legal owners of the dog who were in hysterics when they heard their dog was safe. They had been looking for him all day. I was livid over what happened and I started posting notices on our local lost/found pet pages about the legal stray hold, and how if you give away a dog without obeying the hold protocol, it's THEFT lol.

ANYWAY I personally feel that 2 weeks is a reasonable amount of time to dedicate to trying to find the owners, and give them a chance to locate and find you. I agree that for a citizen fostering a stray, the 3-5 day hold doesn't seem like a fair amount of time. Ultimately it's up to you because you have to consider the situation with your parents and personal pets. As long as you're following the legal stray protocol, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Perhaps the people who are interested in her would agree to helping look for the original owners for a while longer? Then they could take her and you can spend an extra week looking. If nobody steps forward, then you cease efforts and the dog is theirs.

 

[Boxerluv]

Well we've been talking it over nad it looks like they may take her. They're going out of town this weekend and will be back tuesday and since we really can't keep her hear long term she'll probably go over there and they'll hold onto her while we continue to look for her owners. It'll have been about a week by then so we'll try and give it at least another week searching for her owners and if we can't locate them and they think she's a good fit for their family they'll keep her. If not they'll still hang onto her until we can place her somewhere else.

We're all seriously convinced she's someones pet though. She's so sweet doesn't jump on the furniture, walks loose leash, coat/teeth in pretty good condition, and her nails are nice and short etc. So there's gotta be an owner somewhere

 

[Boxerluv]

Might've found her owners! Got a call tonight and from what they described it sounds like her. They're coming by sometime tomorrow and make sure it's their dog, but sounds like it!

Apparently 2 trees took down their fence and she got out. And as far as her collar apparently she won't keep anything on her neck adn somehow mangages to houdini her way out of them. So if it's her definately going to recommend they get her microchipped

 

[SusanLynn]

Yay! I'm sure that her owners will be very happy to have her back home. Please make sure that they present some evidence of ownership including photos and vet records.