How long are your dogs 'your's'?

Would you want your dog back/Give the adopted dog back?

  • I would want my dog back over 1 year/ I would return the dog over 1 year

    Votes: 24 68.6%
  • I would want my dog back less than 1 year/ I would return dog less than 1 year

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • I would want my dog back but would not pursue legal action

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • I would not want my dog back over 1 year/ I would not give the dog back over a year

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I would not want the dog back in less than 1 year/ I would not give the dog back in less than 1 year

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No- other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes- other

    Votes: 9 25.7%
  • I would get another dog

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    35

Finkie_Mom

It's A Red Dog Revolution
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#61
I would always WANT my dogs back and I think that due to my having them in my name (registered in multiple ways) that I should rightfully get them back. I would pursue legal action.

But really. The natural disaster thing. Just. Look at this:

http://www.kvue.com/home/Show-dogs-survive-in-kennel-4-days-after-their-owners-house-burns-129568318.html

I'm sorry, but this man LOVES his dogs. I know because I am lucky enough to own 3 of them. He would have stayed there through the fire if it weren't for the Sheriff coming and forcing them out and his wife being ill. The whole ordeal was terrible for all of us in the breed club, and I've become very close with Tom and his wife over the past 3 years. I was hysterical for days until we knew all dogs (except for two, unfortunately) were safe and had been fed and watered by firefighters. I don't get snippy at a lot of things, but some people really need to think about what they are saying before they hit "Submit Reply."

ETA - If it were someone else's dog, it would break my heart, but I would give them back. Though I would totally try to find the owners if there was already a name associated with a microchip ASAP.
 

yoko

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#62
I'm torn so I don't really know how to vote.

I would look for Yoshi for forever. If it had been so long I knew she wasn't around I'd still look just because I'd feel I had to know if she got to live out her life happily.

But I also have an issue with owners waiting so long. I get that you have to get your life back together. But IMO that's a FAMILY MEMBER. If they aren't part of your rebuilding process I don't think you deserve to have them back. If someone has been constantly looking for their dog I would 100% give them their dog back. I may not be happy about it but if they've really been looking that long I couldn't imagine keeping someone's heart dog away from them. If they decided to take a ton of time to get their stuff together and just randomly decided to hunt the dog down on a whim I would be completely against it.

Most people opened their home to these animals with the thoughts that they would be their forever home not that they'd be free pet care for someone else who couldn't be bothered to look for their pet as soon as possible. I do think a lot were adopted out way to fast. But I do think at some time or another you give up the rights to your pet.

For me though I would not leave Yoshi. I don't have kids or dependents so I don't have to worry about those. I've lived out of a car before to keep Yoshi. I know someone mentioned people being held at gunpoint and told to leave their pets. Honestly they'd have to shoot me. I'd rather be shot trying to stay with my dog than to leave her in the conditions those dogs were left in alone to either starve to death, get sick and die, or get shot by a random stranger during a combination of starvation or sickness.

I can't take enclosed areas with a ton of people. Hell forget enclosed areas I can't deal with large groups of people. And as horrible as it sounds I'd rather die myself then abandon Yoshi because with my anxiety/stress issues it's not like I'd be able to make it or get the help I needed anyway.

and others told it would be a few days tops
It may just be that I'm a Chazzer. But if it was bad enough I was being evacuated or told to leave I wouldn't care if I was told it was one tops I wouldn't leave my dog there. If I have enough time to put ANYTHING in my car I have enough time to put my dog in there.
 

Equinox

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#63
So, how do you tell the difference between an intact dog owned by a "casual" pet owner and one you feel is "responsible enough" for an intact dog when all you have in front of you is the intact dog? Also, being intact is NOT an untreated medical condition by ANY stretch :rolleyes: And further, about those untreated medical conditions...if the dog has been lost for days, weeks, months...how the hell were they supposed to treat said medical conditions? They very well could have been treating them prior to the dog getting lost, or the condition could have developed WHILE the dog was lost.
This. I know that there are people out there who would automatically decide I was "irresponsible", for no reason outside the fact that my dog was intact. Implying that keeping all of his body parts is an "untreated medical issue" is a little ridiculous, although I'm willing to guess that it was just poor word placement/choice (?).

and nobody who has never been through a disaster like hurricane katrina should really be talking about what you would have done differently. It's really easy to say things like that when you haven't been through it.
I would really suggest taking a moment to step back and realize that you don't know what these people went through or what they did or did not do to save their pets.

To say that they don't deserve their animals.. is deplorable. Completely.

What if it was between your life/your kids life or leaving your dogs? Police men telling you to leave your home at gun point? Being without food or freshwater? What if (like katrina) you didn't know it was going to get so bad, do you pack up and leave every time the weather reports say thunderstorm? What if you were lied to and told you would be back in two days? What if the area was drenched with violence,crime, little food, little freshwater, no communication.. you needed to get out.

I feel for all the victims of Katrina.. and accept that I HAVE NO IDEA what they went through or what I would/would have done in that situation.

I would go find my dog with every power I had.. but to say that I would have deserved to lose him/should leave him with new owners because in a case of national disaster I did what I could to save my life and get out safe.. is wrong.
And this, 110%. I wanted to put the parts I especially agree with in bold, but everything in this post is worth emphasizing.
 

yoko

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#64
Also if a pet was Microchipped and a dog known to have come from a natural disaster area I'd hope the first step would be to try and contact the original owners.

Honestly I'd want to know about it and try to contact them myself before I adopted the dog.

I know we got quite a few up in Tulsa and remember thinking that they were put up for adoption way to fast :/
 

crazedACD

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#66
I'm sorry, but this man LOVES his dogs. I know because I am lucky enough to own 3 of them. He would have stayed there through the fire if it weren't for the Sheriff coming and forcing them out and his wife being ill. The whole ordeal was terrible for all of us in the breed club, and I've become very close with Tom and his wife over the past 3 years. I was hysterical for days until we knew all dogs (except for two, unfortunately) were safe and had been fed and watered by firefighters. I don't get snippy at a lot of things, but some people really need to think about what they are saying before they hit "Submit Reply."
This is a really good point. Those with multiple dogs, especially more than 3/4, it can be difficult to be able to safely handle them all in the case of an evacuation. Mom's dog, Fez, he attacks other dogs in the car. He has bad stress response. If you are evacuating to a shelter, you also have the worry of anti-social dogs. There's a lot of factors behind 'having to leave' your dogs.
 

Shakou

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#67
I also think that in the case of a natural disaster, if my dogs ever DID get separated from me somehow, and I found them again years later, living with someone else, I think just the sheer fact that they LIVED through all that and were safe and being cared for would make me cry tears of joy and relief. The pets that died in Katrina did not die happily, and I'd be tortured for years wondering just what happened to my dogs. I'd want them back and would try to persuade the new owners anyway I could, but knowing they were alive, loved, and being cared for would be enough for me if they declined.
 

sillysally

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#68
The whole Katrina situation just highlights how essential it is to have a solid plan in place, especially if you have multiple animals/species (and to take what local authorities say with a grain of salt). If we had to, we could fit all the animals-2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 birds in my car, although it would be much better for everyone involved if we could take both vehicles. My mom lives one county over and 35-40 minutes away and we live in the Midwest, so in most situations we would see here we could go to her house with the critters.

I actually feel better about disaster evacuation than I did when I had a horse since I didn't have a trailer or truck.

Not blaming people who didn't have a plan, just saying that there is something to be learned here.
 
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#69
I also think that in the case of a natural disaster, if my dogs ever DID get separated from me somehow, and I found them again years later, living with someone else, I think just the sheer fact that they LIVED through all that and were safe and being cared for would make me cry tears of joy and relief. The pets that died in Katrina did not die happily, and I'd be tortured for years wondering just what happened to my dogs. I'd want them back and would try to persuade the new owners anyway I could, but knowing they were alive, loved, and being cared for would be enough for me if they declined.
This 100% also I would keep them updated with my contact information so that if their situation were to change that I would be the first person they would contact to take them.
 

Airn

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#70
This. I know that there are people out there who would automatically decide I was "irresponsible", for no reason outside the fact that my dog was intact. Implying that keeping all of his body parts is an "untreated medical issue" is a little ridiculous, although I'm willing to guess that it was just poor word placement/choice (?).



And this, 110%. I wanted to put the parts I especially agree with in bold, but everything in this post is worth emphasizing.
Didn't mean to imply those were related. Spaying/neutering is my personal preference. I don't consider someone a 'bad owner' because they have not spayed/neutered. There are other things that go along with it that usually make it a negative thing, though. Oops litters, for one thing. It's completely situational, though. Would I tell Jess to get Rosey spayed? No. I'm generally not a black and white kind of person and I didn't mean to make a blanket statement. I hardly want to argue why I think pets should be spayed/neutered, though. :lol-sign:


Interesting things being said. A variety of dog owners. I try not to judge the Katrina victims because I've never been in that situation. Or someone who can't leave because they don't have a car. Like Fran. Not having a car would just not work here, but I don't live in a big city where you CAN walk everywhere. (Or there's public transport.)

I also don't think you're a better owner for choosing to be shot rather than leave your dog. That is a personal choice. I would prefer not to be shot, but that's just me.
 

yoko

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#71
I also don't think you're a better owner for choosing to be shot rather than leave your dog. That is a personal choice. I would prefer not to be shot, but that's just me.
I don't think my decision to be shot rather than leave my dog makes me a better owner. But IMO what I'd be leaving her to go to is way worse in my opinion.

I have a LOT of trouble with groups of people. I'm not talking just disliking it. My blood pressure spikes and I get physically sick. I also have trouble with people I don't know. I might be able to do it for a day or so but there's no way I could handle the stress of losing everything combined with my social anxiety issues.

I can't even do family things on Sundays. Just being around that many people is an overload for me and I'm exhausted the next day. That's with people I know and trust. I get stressed even thinking of going to the store so being forced into a place that's taken thousands of evacuees? That's something I wouldn't be able to handle very long, if at all.

My choice to rather be shot than leave my dog isn't me trying to say I'd be a better owner. It's I'd rather it be quick than long, drawn out and torture for us both.
 

Brattina88

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#72
I think because of Katrina, if I were to adopt a dog from a natural disaster like that, it would always be in my mind "what about their original owners". And while it would probably break my heart, I would give them back if I was shown proof. They've lost enough due to Katrina, they don't need me holding their family member hostage because they're "mine" now. I would NEVER give up looking for my dogs. I would pursue legal action if I found them years later. I guess the only exception would be if its been like 10years and they're in great homes, and it would be a very stressful transition for them - like Bailey who is high anxiety and HATES its when I leave her in an unknown place.... Just with her age and stress level I would have to seriously consider what's best for her, although my first gut reaction would be to be selfish ;)

As far as a plan - Chaz is the reason I have a plan honestly. Flooding and tornados is just about the only natural disasters we have to worry about here, I always have leashes and shot record copy in my truck (glove box). In the house, shot records are in an easy access binder, along with pictures and a profile in case, Maddie's medicine and medical history. I store her meds, their food (wet and dry, and treats) first aid kit (human and dog), and a couple brushes in a plastic tote anyway. A gallon of water. I'd just have to grab it and go.
I have family members in town and out of state that I could go to, dogs welcomed (they've been the before that's a plus for me) and $$ for hotels, gas if needed. I was just thinking maybe I should have some food for me just in case! Lol
Although I am way impressed with Fran's :hail: wow!
 

Emily

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#73
Didn't mean to imply those were related. Spaying/neutering is my personal preference. I don't consider someone a 'bad owner' because they have not spayed/neutered. There are other things that go along with it that usually make it a negative thing, though. Oops litters, for one thing. It's completely situational, though. Would I tell Jess to get Rosey spayed? No. I'm generally not a black and white kind of person and I didn't mean to make a blanket statement. I hardly want to argue why I think pets should be spayed/neutered, though. :lol-sign:
Ok, but can you step back and think about how deeply disturbing it is to read someone describing a dog that could be yours and saying the owners of such dogs probably don't deserve them back? That's horrifying. Your personal preference should have nothing to do with whether or not an owner has their pet returned.

I mean, what if I found a neutered dog with long nails, bad teeth, and in need of grooming? Well they clearly didn't research all the health risks of neutering... and they clearly don't do regular nail trims... and they probably feed bad food, like junky kibble - not raw, which is my preference. And this dog desperately needs a bath and blowout!

I'm sure nobody's really missing this dog, and even if they, it would be better off in a new home anyway.

I just... I sincerely urge you to widen your parameters for "loving pet owner". Please.
 

~Jessie~

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#74
Rory's not neutered and he's not microchipped, either. I initially planned to neuter him when he was around 2 and get him microchipped at the same time. I've since decided to leave him intact as I don't see any purpose in having him neutered. I'll get him microchipped eventually, but he always wears a collar and i'm sure any sane person would beg me to take him back if he ended up getting loose :p

Anyway... I'd never judge someone for leaving their dogs intact or un-microchipped. The chihuahuas are all neutered and chipped, but they had the chips done while under anesthesia.

I can see both sides of the Hurricane Katrina argument. While I would never ever leave my dogs behind, I do have a car and the ability to leave with them. I have savings, credit cards, and options.

It reminds me of the "should homeless people have pets" debate. Having an owner who loves their dogs is better than no home at all... and many of the Katrina victims were in major poverty with no cars and no where to take their dogs. Adding kids and other dependents into the equation makes it even more difficult.

The whole thing makes me sad.
 
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#75
Your personal preference should have nothing to do with whether or not an owner has their pet returned.
Ayup. No matter who you are, there's always someone else out there who thinks YOU aren't a good enough home and your dog would be better off with them because they are a better pet owner.
 

Airn

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#76
Ok, but can you step back and think about how deeply disturbing it is to read someone describing a dog that could be yours and saying the owners of such dogs probably don't deserve them back? That's horrifying. Your personal preference should have nothing to do with whether or not an owner has their pet returned.

I mean, what if I found a neutered dog with long nails, bad teeth, and in need of grooming? Well they clearly didn't research all the health risks of neutering... and they clearly don't do regular nail trims... and they probably feed bad food, like junky kibble - not raw, which is my preference. And this dog desperately needs a bath and blowout!

I'm sure nobody's really missing this dog, and even if they, it would be better off in a new home anyway.

I just... I sincerely urge you to widen your parameters for "loving pet owner". Please.
I'm really not sure where you came to that conclusion about me. I wasn't saying any of these people didn't deserve their dogs. I like to know more information about a situation before saying yes or no, though.

Maybe other people think their personal preference should be law but I don't. I PERSONALLY will spay and neuter my animals because I want to. I do NOT think you are a bad owner if you don't and I do not think you don't deserve your pets. That's not my call to make.

I can disagree with someone's methods without thinking they are a horrible person. I don't agree with several things my friends do or believe, but I don't think they should not own dogs because of that. Most of you do things I wouldn't do with my dog, but I assume it's because you have researched it and believe it's best for your dog. Want to feed rawr? Go ahead! I don't know enough about it to feed it and it's not really something I'm interested in doing. As long as you're feeding your dog, I'm fairly happy. :D

Just because I do it or believe it doesn't mean everyone should. And if you got that from me, I'm sorry. Apparently I'm easily misunderstood. Gotta get some of the lingo down, I guess. ;)
 

Shai

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#77
Ayup. No matter who you are, there's always someone else out there who thinks YOU aren't a good enough home and your dog would be better off with them because they are a better pet owner.
Zactly. For what it's worth when I said "in the best interest of the dog" I meant if the dog is very old or sick and would actually be harmed by undergoing a major life change. Not that I feed a better food or take my dogs on an average of 5.4 additional miles of walking per week or do/don't subscribe to whatever the other person's vaccination protocol is or...

What's that saying about glass houses and throwing stones? Seems to be a lot of it going around.
 

Dizzy

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#78
I would want my dog back. No matter how long it had been. They're family to us.
 

Cali Mae

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#79
I would definitely want my dogs back, and I wouldn't hesitate to return someone's dog to them... unless, of course, it's clear that the dog wasn't in an ideal situation (ie: neglect, etc).

I'm sure Cali would think of living with someone else as a completely awesome vacation. She spent a weekend with my dad and his girlfriend once and she loved it. My dad's girlfriend loves dogs and used to have a Bernese Mountain Dog at one point. So, needless to say, Cali got spoiled that weekend but she was super excited to see me walk through the door.

Moses would probably become depressed for awhile, unless the people were incredibly nice and eventually earned his trust. When he was younger, we'd leave him at a boarding place with other dogs and he hated it with a passion. We upgraded to a place where he got daily walks, etc but he still didn't enjoy it, so now we either get my grandmother to come up or see if my dad will stay at the house with him. He's friendly, but very reserved with strangers.
 

kaldrina

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#80
Long time lurker question..

What if the dog wasn't yours anymore. What if when you went to see them they were excited to see you but were more bonded with their new family..

And would age factor in to if you wanted them back? In the sense that if you lost your year old puppy and managed to find him a year and a half later..and he had spent more of his life with his new family then he had with you. Would that change things?
 

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