Saw my neighbor down the block with his adorable fluffy floofster, Frank.

[conuly]

That dog is done growing by now!

Anyway, my neighbor told me that apparently just a few days ago he found this extremely expensive lost dog in terrible condition - mats, overgrown toenails, underweight, uti. The works. Another neighbor is keeping it - no signs, of course, why would you put up signs if you lose your dog? - and since this is Finn's origin story I advised him to tell the neighbor to do same as we did the second time we found him: take him to the shelter, explain that you found the dog and would like to adopt him properly if the original owners show up, wait four days and pick him up again. It's worth the trip out to Arthur Kill to know you did this all on the up-and-up. People like that will never trouble themselves to make the drive.

So whichever one of us sees the neighbor first will advise them, I guess.

Comments

[cellio]

When the cat who liked to sun herself in my lawn all summer (but wouldn't let me get near) showed up on my back porch on the eve of first frost interested in food, and I was able to pet her enough to discover that she was skin and bone under that long-haired matted coat, I started feeding her and put a flea collar on her on which I'd written "owner please call (my number)". I also looked for signs (none). After a week I took her to a vet for an exam and a scan; no chip, so I decided she was mine now. (All the shelters chip, so she didn't come from one of them.) I'll admit that it didn't occur to me to temporarily drop her off at a shelter and then reclaim her. I'm not sure her previous owner should have been trusted with her again. (She was clearly not feral.)

[pwcorgigirl]

When you find a purebred dog in that kind of shape, my first thought is always that he or she is a backyard breeder dump victim. The previous owner is done with the dog, probably because it's in such terrible shape from neglect, and has dumped it on the side of a street. The poor little dog will definitely have a far better life now.

[conuly]

It would not have occurred to me either, before Finn. But it was such a relief, the second time we found him, to know that if they showed up again we could say "No, sorry, we got him from the shelter and have the paperwork to prove it."

[conuly]

People can surprise you. I would not have expected the people who abandoned Finn to show up, but they did! (And then claimed we stole their dog, that people are always stealing their dog. No, lady, you lost your dog, repeatedly, through your own careless negligence and your positive refusal to put up signs.)