Q: Do I have a case against a neighbor who snagged my dog from outside of my townhome and kept him for 2 days?
We thought our dog ran away. We notified and worked with Douglas County animal lost & found, posted flyers and to social media. We each took 2 days off from work/school and spent a total of around 35 hours combined looking for him in the roughly 48 hours he was gone. We hiked in fields full of snow with our toddler, drove miles through every neighborhood and spent money on flyers. Turns out a neighbor had him. She know we are the owners and where we live. She only returned him because another neighbor called her out and told her she needed to return him to us, that we had been looking for days. She had removed his collar and tags and put a new collar on him. When she called me, her kid was crying in the background saying that she told her they could keep her. Is there anything we can do about this? A civil case? Anything?
A:
I’m very glad to hear you got your dog back!
Yes, you can sue her under what is called Conversion for damages sustained to your property. This may also include damages for your time spent looking for your dog (I.e., time off work, costs of printing flyers, etc.). I would recommend speaking to an experienced animal attorney to go over your options and possible recovery.
A: While you may technically have a case for conversion, all your neighbor would really have to say is that your dog was at large (even if he wasn't) and the weather was bad so she was being a good Samaritan by taking him in. She could claim ignorance regarding your ownership or even worse, she could respond with allegations that you neglect or mistreat your dog. As an attorney who has been practicing civil law for 18 years, and animal law exclusively for five, my advise would be to try to submit a theft report to the police, to at least get it on record. And if they go talk to her, and get a statement, you'll at least know what she's going to say before you go to the time and expense of filing a lawsuit for which the judge may state you have sustained no actual damages.
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