He managed to escape, and because I wanted to be honest, I let the rescue centre know straight away. Thankfully, he was found safe and sound the next day.
The rescue definitely hadn't warned me that the dog was such an escape artist.
A volunteer from the charity called me and gave me a right telling-off; she’s now insisting that one of their volunteers comes round for a home visit to check our living conditions.
I had sent over an adoption application which they approved, followed by a phone interview.
Doing some digging online, I’ve found out about how some rescues overstep the mark and reclaim dogs without any proper legal process.
So I’ve been checking my paperwork. I do have the adoption agreement, but it says they have 1 to 2 months to transfer the microchip into the new owner's name (which I’ve since discovered is actually illegal).
While checking everything tonight, I was horrified to see that not only has the rescue not transferred the microchip registration to my name, but they haven't even cashed my cheque yet!!
Despite having the agreement, does this mean my dog still belongs to the rescue?
What are my options? I can't bear the thought of being separated from him, but this charity's borderline illegal practices have me fearing the worst.
I know that if the dog is legally mine, they’d need a court order to take him back, but where do I stand given they haven't cashed the cheque?
I’m worried sick—if anyone has any answers, I’d be really grateful...
Translated from French
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What breed or type of dog is it? If it’s a sighthound, then a harness (maybe even a 3-point one), a collar, and double-leashing is definitely the most effective way to go. Don’t worry, your dog is safe and sound, and you’re just learning from your mistakes.
I know that some sighthound and podenco rescues ask adopters never to let the dog off-lead for the first six months and to use a specific type of harness to stop them from bolting.
As for the rescue, I don’t think you need to worry. If they gave you a bit of a telling-off, it’s only because you’re definitely not the first person it's happened to!
Actually, part of the garden isn't fenced (and it's not possible to do so), but I made that clear in my written adoption application and discussed it at length with the two volunteers I spoke to on the phone when they were vetting my application. I’d suggested a containment system or an electric fence, but the rescue said no. So, they let me adopt the dog knowing full well what the situation was. The escape didn’t even happen because of the garden; it was actually because the collar turned out to be too big. The dog managed to slip out of it while on a walk, even though the pet shop had checked the size and fit (I could barely fit two fingers under it). Since then, we’ve switched to using both a collar and a harness with a double lead.
There's no need to worry, the rescue is just going to pop round to see that you’re looking after the dog well and that everything is exactly as you described.
I think you’re really stressing about it and worrying that they’ll take him back... but unfortunately, I think they see so many awful things that they just prefer to double-check that everything is going okay for the dog.
It’s really just a formality.
As Lorna says, they only take the dog back if the living conditions aren't actually what they expected.
Even if they’d forgotten to ask if you have proper fencing in your garden, or if you’d forgotten to mention that you didn’t have any, it’s the sort of thing that can be easily sorted out.
The rescue might just want to double-check that the garden is properly fenced off, especially if you mentioned it during the adoption process, thinking "I'll get the fencing done once he's here," and then ended up putting it off...
It’s just an example, but it happens far more often than you might think.
No, rescue charities don’t take dogs away just because they’ve escaped; that’s just not a thing.
Rescues might eventually start legal proceedings in cases of proven neglect or abuse, which is a time-consuming and laborious process, so they certainly don’t do it for the sake of it :-)
If the charity is taking its time updating the ownership records to your name, you can start the process yourself by asking your vet for a certificate and sending it to the microchip database along with your adoption contract. (PS @Emla, the dog is with Klyde as far as I understand; the question isn't about how to get him back, but rather whether the rescue has the power to take him away.)
Hi, I'm not that shocked by it either.
I imagine it's a bit like a trial period... it gives the rescue some peace of mind to be able to take the dog back more easily if things go really badly early on, or if the adoptive family wasn't "vetted" properly.
Their goal is for the dog to be adopted... not to take him away from you for no reason.
Besides, the fact that they haven't cashed the cheque shows that they're just giving it time to see if it's a good "match" between you and the dog.
They definitely should have explained that to you, though.
And I agree with @Emla... it's your dog that ran away, so they have every right to ask what you're doing to stop it from happening again. That's part of their job if they don't want to see the same dogs being returned over and over.
Go and see them and try to find out more about your dog's past. It's up to you to "dig a bit deeper" and ask for their advice to make sure everything goes smoothly.
You're very lucky he's alright.
It’s actually quite common for a rescue not to sort the paperwork out straight away.
Sometimes they even have a probationary period where they might carry out home visits.
My most recent rescue was from a charity a long way from home, and they asked me for a health certificate from the vet after six months before they’d transfer the ownership, as they couldn't organise a home visit.
The fact that the dog was picked up while wandering off doesn't really work in your favour. If you want to get your dog back, you’ll just have to play along, let the rescue visit you, and discuss what you can put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
And just be thankful your dog was found safe and sound and hadn't caused any accidents.
I think I remember reading a thread about this on here. Rescues are usually allowed to do this, and the microchip generally stays in their name just in case. That way, if the dog goes missing and the owner hasn't updated their address or phone number after moving house, the rescue can still be contacted.
It’s to make sure the dog never ends up in the pound and is never put down, because he’s still technically registered to them.
I reckon they’ll just pop round to see how he managed to get out and try to work with you to find a solution.
A dog escaping isn't the same as neglect; unfortunately, these things happen. They saved him and rehomed him, so they probably just found it hard to hear that he’d been found lost.
As long as you can show them that you’ve sorted the issue so he can’t escape again and that his home is right for him, they aren’t going to take him back. They’ve already got so many animals waiting for homes as it is.
