STRAY DOG LEGALITIES?

JSJJ388

JSJJ388

GREEN GREMLIN
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Location
HAMPTONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
So theres a stray dog that wondered up a few weeks ago looking rough. He had a collar, but we could see every rib and was extremely skiddish. We gave him food and water, and he hung around about a week. I went and got a old dog house from my parents for him to sleep in. Then, he up and disappeared. Somebody said some folks a few miles away owned him. We kept food and water out for him for a while, but he didnt show back up.

Fast forward to today, he shows back up looking even worse. Ribs are like ladder rungs down his side, looks like he hasnt eaten since we last saw him. Key part, he no longer has a collar. Wife put him out some food and water and played with him for a bit.

What are our options? The dog lover in me says itll be a cold day in hell when I let him go back to wherever he came from, but I also dont want to cause any legal problems. He wandered up looking rough with no collar, so Im thinking he is now ours. Anyone know what the rules actually are?
 
Hers the first titimtitime he showed up.

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Heres today.

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Keep him, feed him and nurture/nourish him back to health. Someone obviously doesn't care enough to do it themselves.
If someone were to pursue ownership, they will need to prove it.

I don't like many people and I tell too many #BTL jokes, but I have a soft spot for dogs who aren't treated well.
 
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Keep him on your property, what can they say if they can't find him? Doubt he is chipped if they don't bother to feed him. If those people a few miles away know where he is I would not be surprised if they come get him, so that's the hard part. I try to run off any dog that shows up here (with three I don't need any more) unless they have a collar then I try to check it. Stray cats get shot on sight I don't care who's it is.
 
Tacoma747 said:
Keep him on your property, what can they say if they can't find him? Doubt he is chipped if they don't bother to feed him. If those people a few miles away know where he is I would not be surprised if they come get him, so that's the hard part. I try to run off any dog that shows up here (with three I don't need any more) unless they have a collar then I try to check it. Stray cats get shot on sight I don't care who's it is.
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Thats the part that concerns me. I dont know the people, and strangers are met with extreme caution around here.
 
My Sweatie girl came here lil over 3 years ago. You could see every bone in her body, had a broke leg, had been what looked like, hit by a car. Short story, I fed her, set her leg myself, let her stay in my building for 3 days, then introduced her to my other two kids( pooches) and she has been an inside dog since. She is my shadow, she wants to go everywhere I go. She's older, no telling how old though, I'd say 12-14 years old. She will bark at strangers, and scares some, but if they say her name, or call her over to be petted, she is their forever friend.
She is so stuck to me that she has displayed separation anxiety. I finally figured out, it isn't so much that the likes to ride, but, she wants to be where I am. So if it's going down the road or to town, she wants to go too, but just to be with me. Today I went to town, stopped at local store to get my cigarette making materials, then to Lowes, I couldn't take her in, I forgot her leash. Then to Rural king and Harbor Freight, then over to the bank. Except for the bank, she laid down, and didn't get up. Even when I was loading a 10' piece of 3" PVC in my Suburban. She laid still in the back seat. But when we got to the bank, she has learned, if she hangs her head out the window, a treat comes back through the shoot. I worked all day out in my building. I take a lot of breaks. She lays somewhere close until I sit down, then she's expects me to love and pet on her till I get back up. She only really bugs me when it's 4:00 o'clock (she's still on the old time) 5 o'clock is feeding time, yeah, she can tell time! Or when it gets an hour or so past dark thirty, she's bugging again...she's ready to go in and go to bed. Bottom line, a stray that hasn't been cared for, will bond like you wouldn't believe.
Keep the dog, treat her like family, and it will probably be one of if not the best friend you have ever had.
 
Thanks. Chance decided that the only appropriate greeting was to get in the drivers seat of the car with me...
 
He may not belong to anyone near you but instead has been dropped off by the original owners. People use to and still dump dogs near my mom's house all the time. My current dog was abandoned near my mom's house and wandered up to her porch. My mom had no interest in keeping him, but I convinced her not to call animal control but instead let me try to find its owner or at least a new home for him. Long story short, I ended up keeping him and that was 3 or 4 years ago now. Probably one of the best dogs I have ever had. Murphy is pictured below.
As far as your situation, I would take him to the vet and have him scanned for chip, just in case he was stolen from his owner before being abandoned. If he has no chip, get him his shots, a collar with your name on it, and welcome him to your home.

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About the only thing I would do would be to bring him to a local vet and explain the situation and ask if they will check him for a chip. Most that I know of will do that for free. If the dog has a chip, they will take it up with local law enforcement as to how the dog was (mis)treated and not let them have the dog back.

That's the right way of going about it. Anything less runs the risk of getting accused of "stealing" their dog. Trust me, that kind of stuff happens to people with REALLY good intentions. Saving a dog from mistreatment is the best of best intentions, IMHO


Also bear in mind that a dog that has been outside that much is a prime candidate for heartworm, so it would be a good idea if you plan on keeping it, to have it checked for heartworm and get a preventative if it's negative. A full vet checkup would be a good idea too, but count on it being a decent chunk of change - so be warned and bring your wallet.
 
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Growing up I think over the years we "adopted" five strays, we lived at the end of a mile long dirt road, my favorite dog Shep "appeared" one day. He was a husky-chow lookig mix, I think I was 8 my parents thought he might be dangerous, he wasn't fed for three days still wouldn't leave, became my best friend for the next 17 years. We lived in the country and let him run, he survived two gun shot wounds from neighbors (38 in the chest birdshot in the rear, he liked chickens) and a broken hip from being kicked by a horse, died of old age living the pampered life as an inside dog.

Come to find out years later talking to a high school friend he used to be her dog, he would howl if he was tied up, her father had him on a cable run, a family friend Larry and her father bowled together. Shep wasn't really a "stray" he was just given a new family, finally got Larry to admit to it almost 10 years later. He loved animals and wanted to make sure Shep had a good home. Also found out he was a pure breed working dog. Probably the most amazing story about him is when one of our horses was having her foal, it was at night Shep, our other horse, and our pony set "guard" around the foal during the birth.
 
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