Q: What are my legal rights to pet ownership if the original owner left a dog I am taking care of? Is this abandonment?
The original owner got a dog and 4 months later left to go to school. She left her dog with her friend & then the friend a couple weeks later said she wanted to keep the dog. The owner said no so the friend tied the dog to the porch. Another friend of the owner went to get the dog and it ended up staying at the new friends boyfriends apartment. That did not work out so now I have the dog (i am friends w/ the boyfriend). I have had the dog for over 3 months and she still thinks the dog is with the boyfriend. She never asks about the dog or came to visit when she was home, and has only paid one vet bill. Other than that I have paid for food, grooming, vet visits etc. I also pay a fee for the dog to be living at my apartment. I want to legally adopt the dog but it is chipped with her name. I believe when she comes home for christmas break she will ask for him. Is this considered abandonment and what are my next steps of changing his chips to my name? I am willing to do what is necessary.
A: You do not acquire ownership of the dog in the manner you describe. It is not abandoned if the original owner believes she has placed it temporarily with her boyfriend and does not know otherwise. You can notify the owner that you have the dog, and tell her that if she does not make arrangements to pick up the dog within a reasonable time frame, then you will deem the dog abandoned and keep him. That may or may not work. The longer you have uninterrupted possession the stronger your argument becomes to prove abandonment, but that determination is a factual question which is not easy to define with bright lines when it becomes abandonment as opposed to just a careless or uncaring owner. You have to prove that the original owner intended to relinquish ownership, and did so. Time and no contact can be used to prove intent to abandon.
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