La Plata, MD asked in Animal / Dog Law for Maryland

Q: How long does an owner have to claim lost dog until dog belongs to new owner. After original has been contacted?

Lost dog was found on N. Carolina interstate. Friend brought dog to Maryland as they were returning from a trip. Attempts were made to find owner via lost dog webpages in the county that the dog was found. I took dog to animal shelter in MD and found out it was chipped and the owners were contacted and they said they do want the dog back. I have been in contact with owner but they said that they do not know when they could come to get the dog as money is tight. When does the dog become mine?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
Answered
  • Rockville, MD
  • Licensed in Maryland

A: When the owners' failure to come get the dog meets the legal definition of abandonment. Abandonment requires the intentional giving up of ownership. Intent can be express ("I no longer want the dog, you can have it"), or implied through conduct (e.g., refusal to respond to entreaties and notices delivered to the owner to come claim the dog). Your situation is in a gray area, where the owner has clearly expressed a desire to retain ownership, but lacks the financial resources to travel so many miles to retrieve the dog from you. Keep in mind, your friend is responsble for transporting their dog several states away from where it was found, and giving it to you. They could and should have delivered the dog to a local animal rescue in North Carolina, or simply stopped by any animal shelter or vet to have the dog scanned, and they would have found the local owner and could have left the dog locally to be swiftly picked up. Instead they took a dog that did not belong to them hundreds of miles away from where it was lost. Now you have it. Seem to me that you and/or your friend now bear some responsibility to get the dog back down to the rightful owner. Offer to meet them half way, perhaps. Or there may be an animal rescue organization willing to cover the transportation costs to reunite the dog with its owner. You don't acquire ownership over somebody's property by finding it unattended and carrying it away so far that it is impractical for the owner to come get it. You provide no facts as to why they can't come, but perhaps they lack a car, money to rent a car, or it's a single parent with small children who can't travel that distance, their work schedule does not permit it, they are the sole caretaker for an elderly disabled parent, or any number of reasons.

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