Butlr's Q&A
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How do I sue to get my dog returned?
In 2022, I had to go to the hospital and was there for 12 weeks. It was an emergency and an ambulance and the local police arrived. The police called the local animal control officer, who took my dog from my house and delivered her to a local shelter. The dog was adopted out while I was still infirmed. I never surrendered my dog, neither verbally nor in writing. Neither the police nor the animal control officer ever contacted me. Early on, my ex-wife was in contact with two local shelters which would have cared for my dog until my release. The animal control officer refused to release my dog to either of those two shelters, claiming he only worked with two other shelters.
While I do not practice in PA, unfortunately, it is a near certainty that the applicable state and local laws provide that legal ownership of pets taken into impound passes to Animal Control after the prescribed reclamation period expires, irrespective of how they got there or if surrender papers are signed. The time period to reclaim is typically only a matter of days and the only safe step in such circumstances is to send someone to pay the fees and reclaim the pet before the reclamation period expires. Regardless of what happened with AC, the adoptive owner has the dog under color of title, and IMHO any action against them for return of the dog would be doomed to failure due to either the running of the statute of limitations or "laches" (waiting too long to act on legal rights to the detriment of another as noted by Atty Langer) or for a host of other reasons. As a practical matter, there is comfort to be found in the fact your dog was adopted and not euthanized. The best "remedy" here, IMHO, is to honor your former dog by saving another dog sitting alone and unloved right now, and potentially facing euthanasia if not adopted.
