Q: I have been caring for a dog from someone who is irresponsible, is there any way that I can claim the dog for myself?
We were in a relationship and bought the dog together, I had ended up evicting her from my house and we were no longer together, and I've been caring for the dog for 2 months alone now, but we've had the dog since July, making it now 6 months, is there any way that I can fully claim custody of the dog? She says she wants to still take the dog for herself, but I still have all the documentation and records on the dog. Is there anything that I can do to make sure that I can keep the dog? She also keeps insisting that she is going to come back for her even though she moved to a different state.
A: You do not get to own someone else's dog because they are a bad owner. If you bought the dog together, that makes you and her co-owners, which means that she cannot claim the dog for herself. At best, she would be entitled to equal time with the dog. How would she achieve that? The police won't intervene in a private dispute over joint ownership. She would have to sue you and get an order from the court to allow her the benefit of her co-ownership rights. It seems highly unlikely that she would be able to pursue this. Offer to buy her out if the dog is important to you and you want to legally obtain 100% ownership. Otherwise, you can inform her (email/text or certified letter) that you are going to surrender the dog to Animal Control in 10 days if she does not take custody. Then, follow through and attempt to adopt the dog from Animal Control as the sole owner, running the risk that someone else will adopt it first, or that Animal Control will not adopt an animal to the surrendering owner.
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