Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Texas

Dog theft - ''Rescue'' group holding animal

Christmas Eve my boyfriend went to get our gifts from the apartment to bring back for a late night gift wrapping at my parents -- in that process of moving gifts to the car my dog, a full bred Bichon Frise, got out without him noticing.

Through the week I have gone personally to four pounds/animal shelters, I have called my apartment management, and I put up signs.

Today I got the good and bad news. My dog was found. The couple that found her were headed out of town and took her to a local pet store. An employee from the pet store took her home, and turned my dog over to a Bichon Rescue in the area.

I have contacted this ''rescue'' and they are refusing to return my dog of 10 years. They claim because she was not groomed they feel that she was neglected and did not even ''look'' like a Bichon. They also tried to claim I abandoned her because it has been over a week and I just now located her.

Keep in mind -- they filed no reports of finding her. They contacted no one. They are not the only rescue... and though she had a collar (no tag) they made no attempt to locate her owner. So, I was supposed to magically find my dog.

Please help me. What are my rights? What do I do to get my dog back?

Thank you

Heather


Asked on 1/04/05, 2:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter Bradie Bradie, Bradie & Bradie

Re: Dog theft - ''Rescue'' group holding animal

Write to the group, certified mail, demanding return of your dog or her market value in dollars (pets are simply considered property). If they fail to return her, you can then bring suit for conversion of personal property with punitive damages of up to four times the value of the animal.

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Answered on 1/04/05, 10:21 am


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