I guess I'm on the other end of this. Charlotte was found as a stray in Nashville, TN 5 years ago when my husband was traveling through the area. He was staying with some friends at their house, when Charlotte came trotting in through the open front door like she owned the place, lol. She was emaciated, filthy, beat up from fights with other dogs, but still in really good spirits. She came and went from the house as she pleased over the course of a few days, eluding animal control who made a few attempts to catch her and failed, and soon my husband started getting attached. So when his friend was getting ready to drop her off at animal control there himself, my husband decided to step up to the plate and adopt her. Which is lucky for her, because we later learned that while there is no ban on Pit Bulls in Nashville, they aren't adopted out from animal control, regardless of how good their temperament is...
Now that we've had her a while, it's become pretty clear that she wasn't a stray all her life. At some point, someone owned this dog and loved her very, very much. For one thing,she's old. Probably somewhere around 10 now. She loves and respects people probably more then any dog I've ever met, particularly kids, which makes me think she was brought up around some. Also, after an exam done by our vet, we found out that at some point in her life, she had one of her back molars extracted....NOT a cheap procedure.
So given all that, it's clear she once belonged to someone that actually cared. I've often wondered how it was she came to end up with us. She wasn't fixed when my husband found her (infact, it appeared that she had just had a litter of puppies), and she had no collar. Also, it was right after a major flood. I sometimes wonder if her previous owners miss her and wonder what ever happened to her.
If they ever found us and asked for her back, I wouldn't return her. She's part of our family now, and we love her with all our hearts. I would have sympathy for them however, and send them pictures and allow them to visit her when we travel through the area, if they really wanted too. If we ever ended up losing her or Ma'ii, and we found them years down the road with someone else, of course I'd want them back, but if the new owners loved them as much as we do, and refused to do so, I'd just hope they'd give me the same mercy, and allow me to keep in touch and visit on occasion.
God, now I need to go hug my dogs, lol.