Vacaville, CA asked in Animal / Dog Law for California

Q: A friend asked if I could find a home for a dog that happened to be his brothers, his brother left for 9 months and we

Did not know when he would come back. My friend asked me to find a home for him which I did with another friend. Now this brother has come back and is demanding his dog back. It's been 9 months with no word from him and my friend has spent a lot of money on this dog and time. Does he have any legal right to this animal or would it be considered that he abandoned it and has no right to the dog? He's trying to say that he wants to press charges on us even though we were just a third party.

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1 Lawyer Answer
William John Light
William John Light
Answered
  • Animal & Dog Law Lawyer
  • Santa Ana, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Under Penal Code 597s, a person who wilfully abandons an animal is guilty of a misdemeanor. No definition of "abandons" is provided, and you do not provide any facts surrounding the brother leaving the dog with your friend. If the brother simply left without notice, the dog could be considered abandoned. If the brother left the dog with your friend with contact information, an agreement to return, etc., then the dog might not have been abandoned.

Either way, it was still not your dog, or your friend's dog, to give away. People who come upon property are obligated to turn it into the police, or in this case Animal Control. Animal Control is then charged with returning it to the owner or allowing new owners to adopt it.

Whether or not the police will be interested in pursuing charges may depend on the circumstances under which the brother left the dog with your friend. Police seem generally uninterested in getting involved in dog ownership disputes. The brother may attempt to sue you, your friend and the new owners in Small Claims. Your defense, if any, would be that the brother abandoned the dog and lost ownership.

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