Q: Co-worker gave me a dog because she had no housing for it. I received no monies to care for the dog for 13 months.
There was no time addressed with the care of the dog. Just that she had no where to put him and would I take him. She said, “it kills me to give him to you”. Now since her situation has changed she came to my home unannounced and told me she was picking him up. She is stating she is going to sue me because she holds the akc papers and microchip. Does she have any legal recourse since it has been so long? (She told me in previous text that unfortunately have been deleted that she would give me the akc papers but they were to far back in storage unit to retrieve.)
A: It seems unfair, but if she is technically the owner, you probably have to give her the dog. I would insist that she reimburse you for the expenses you have incurred in keeping the dog.
A: If the gave you the dog, meaning it was a transfer of ownership, then she has no claim. However, I suspect that she will claim that she asked you to care for it while she was getting on her feet, and that you agreed to do so, free of charge. If that is the situation, then it is still her dog (depending on the terms of your agreement). Sounds like a Small Claims judge will have to decide. If the dog is hers, you might be entitled to a daily kenneling fee, if the boarding exceeded whatever length of time you agreed to care for the dog for free (assuming that happened).
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