Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Pet Ownership

Owned a great dog for 4 years. Had to move due to foreclosure and had a family take care of the dog for what was supposed to be a short term period. It's been a year and they haven't given him back after months and months of attempts to get him. They've dodged every attempt and changed locations so now we don't know their address. Went to police recently and they said they couldn't do anything, considered the dog abandonded and the family made up a story. They said we should have contacted them earlier, but because we were working on the other family's timeframe and didn't know they would string us along like this we didn't know we would have needed to do so. So now we really need to get our dog back but don't know how. Need to know what steps to take and if I have a case that can win. Heard of something called an injunction. Any information is helpful.


Asked on 2/28/09, 12:29 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Pet Ownership

If the police won't help, you will probably have to sue the other family for replevin (demanding the return of your dog) and/or conversion (demanding the value [to you] of the dog and of the time you would have been able to enjoy with him had the other family not done this).

You can also seek an order requiring the family to return the dog to you while the case progresses. If you file in small claims court, though, the case may be decided so quickly that seeking such an order would be impractical.

In order to sue these people and get your dog back, you will need to find them and have them served with the summons and complaint. There are ways to serve people who can't be found after serious attempts to locate them, but such service will get you only a default judgment -- not your dog.

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Answered on 2/28/09, 5:23 pm


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