Asked in Animal / Dog Law for Florida

Q: Pet escapes yard, lost for 3 months, found and shelter charging over $1000 to give back. Third party involved. READ ME!

My friends dog was lost after a Air Conditioning repair guy went into het back yard as scheduled and then left the gate opened. IMPORTANT:The dog has a chip. The dog left the yard and then was found by one of those people that foster who then took it to a shelter to get shots and took good care of her for 3 months. When we got in contact with the lady to get the dog back the shelter told us it would be over $1000 to get the dog back. The money was paid and we have the dog but I don't see why I had to PAY to get MY dog back from a RANDON LADY who I believe used this shelter to make me pay her to get MY dog back. What is the law on this..? Where do I stand..? Was this legal..? Can I sue..? Basically I feel the lady found my dog, has some kind of deal with this shelter to get money from making dog owners pay for their dogs. They said shes been 'working' with them for a while. I have a receit.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Robert Jason De Groot
Robert Jason De Groot
Answered
  • Deltona, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: You cannot expect a full answer on the internet. You have many questions and the best thing to do to get them all answered is to go see a local attorney about this. It is not free to sue people, and you will have to pay money to an attorney to get that done. You might read the local ordinances to see if this sort of thing is actually legal in your area. Each county and city have different ordinances about animal control.

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