My friend has left her dog with me

[FireC]

I have another thread in the dog forum, however, I'm desperate for some advice.

My friend left her dog with me while she was away for a couple of weeks. She's now been away for almost 6 weeks and I haven't heard anything from her. I've sent her messages regarding a potential vet visit and nail clipping. She's read the messages and hasn't replied. I've called her but it just rings out.

We're not super close, more like neighbours than friends, however, she's looked after my cat before and I thought this would be fine. I don't know what to do? Does anyone have and advice?

I work in animal rescue.

The first thing is to notify the police, they'll likely not do anything about the dog, but can advise and at least make sure this woman is safe. It also registers that you are making attempts to reunite dog so you can't be accused of theft.

Because dog is with someone who is caring for it, no offence has been committed under the animal welfare act and its now more a case of who owns dog going forwards.

Dogs are seen as property in eyes of law and you can't get dog neutered without first ensuring legal ownership and rights to do so.

Your choice, now that owner hasn't returned, are either

1. hand dog to a reputable rescue (I would look for a breed rescue as standard rescues are currently full to the brim with lockdown puppies and this is a popular dog breed). They will care for dog, get it neutered and homed.

2. send owner a formal message stating you're willing to take ownership. Laws, around dog ownership are complicated, so ideally you need her to say in writing that sge agrees.

As an aside - yes to neutering. Frenchies have poor welfare due to puppy farming and health issues eg difficulties breathing. Look up brachycephalic dogs.

You call the dog him? Are you sure? Absolutely sure that you're not going to wake up one day and find puppies??

It’s a dog, not a rabbit. You would have to have led a very sheltered life not to be able to tell what sex a dog was. Their bits are very much not tucked away.

This is a very strange thread.

An unneutered male Frenchie will have very obvious bollocks!

I'd make one more attempt at contacting her. Tell her that you'll get the chip changed to you if she doesn't reply. And get him insured and his bollocks chopped off.

How come Frenchies have become so popular with irresponsible people when they're such an unhealthy breed?

💰💰💰💰💰

Well you could either message her and say that if she doesn't contact you within the next 24 hours you'll be taking the dog to a rescue as its clearly been dumped on you. However if you do wish to keep it then tell her you're happy to do so but you want something in writing to say that she's officially handing the dog over you. Otherwise she could turn up in a few months time demanding her dog back. If after all that she still persists in ignoring you tell her you're going to the police to report her as a missing person. Obviously you know that's not the case! But it might frighten her into contacting you.

He's an expensive dog and she was planning on breeding him. Which makes it even stranger!

Try messaging her:

“I assume you’ve decided you not longer want this dog and have abandoned him. I’ve really taken to him, so I’m happy to keep him. But I don’t believe in unneutered male dogs as they are too aggressive, so I’m booking him into the vet to be desexed.”

That might get some action or response from her. And he should be neutered anyway. Amateurs shouldn’t be breeding dogs.

Something similar happened to me once.

Firstly advise your friend that if you don’t hear from her by X date you will be seeking advice with regards to the dog around transferring ownership as he requires ongoing care which needs to be paid for etc.

A vet will scan his microchip and tell you which company his registration is with. (I found the vet to be really helpful in these kind of situations).

You can then contact the registration company and apply for transfer of ownership. They will contact the registered owner (your friend?) and she has 28 days to respond.

If they don’t hear from her ownership will automatically transfer to you after the 28 day period is up. The dog is then yours and you will be sent paperwork as the new registered owner.

Once this is done, inform the vet and register the dog at the vet in your name. Insure him under your name.

This is a really important process and will ensure the dog is legally yours.Otherwise any money you spend etc might never be reimbursed by your friend and she can claim the dog back even after months or years of you looking after him.

Block and delete her from your phone.

Enjoy your dog.

As much as you might want to keep it.
Think very carefully about the cost involved.

Chip registration is not proof of ownership. The chip is registered to the keeper who may or may not actually own the dog.

She's dumped him on you. Well done for looking after him and get his chip details changed to yours so she can't waltz in and take him back Also please get him neutered so he can't produce even more unwanted puppies into this world.

But it's the closest thing to proof of ownership there is

You could end up having him for months then she’ll swan back and insist on having him back.

I would definitely call the police immediately and get them to go round as just because her messages are being read doesn’t mean it’s her reading them. How many times have we read about abusive husbands partners family members holding their family hostage. Is she I’ll or is something going on. For peace of mind do this and speak to her neighbours to check if she has been seen I would keep the dog or rehome but you just need to check everything is ok. Let us know how you get on

@Sillyotter I would definitely call the rspca for advice though as if he is microchipped to her she is still technically the legal owner unless she officially signs him over to a shelter or new person. You could possibly end up in a sticky situation by just keeping him. Generally when they get handed into shelters owners have 7 days to come forward before rehoming can commence

This is a really good point. This woman would be forced to come and collect her dog. If she doesn’t turn up then perhaps @FireC could formally adopt the dog if she wants without worrying that she’ll become attached to the dog but forced to give it back to the woman. I do think it’s odd that OP is dog sitting for a stranger.

I'm afraid it isn't. If ownership can be contested using a receipt of purchase, family photos etc this would override chip registration. If the dog has been abandoned then ownership could be transferred after a set time limit and proof that every effort has been made to trace the owner but care must be taken to do this in a legal way to avoid problems down the line. There's some clarification on what chip registration means here.

www.bluecross.org.uk/advice/dog/microchipping-your-dog

She’s using you. She knows that when she decides to come home she will have every right to take the dog back.
We all know this is wrong but the law will not be on your side, it will be on hers.

You have received a lot of good advice.
You are within your rights to give her notice that if she doesn't reply you will be handing her dog in to be rehomed. If she really wants the dog she will reply.

It is a bit worrying that your message are being read but ignored, makes you wonder if someone has her phone. Is there any chance she could be in prison and doesn't want anyone to know?

Could this even be a poilce matter because I would be concerned for her safety.

How do you know her well enough that shes fed your cats and you've got her dog whilst shes on holiday but you actually don't really know her at all? This is very odd.

What’s the ‘potential vet visit’ for, OP?

i.e. is your friend a chancer who’s trying to get someone softhearted to take an obviously suffering dog to the vets (and pay for it), ad will reclaim her property once that’s happened?

Microchip registration and becoming the registered keeper is the first step though. They will try to contact the previous keeper / owner and wait for a response.

Once you have done that, things like vet registration, paying vet fees, registering and paying for grooming, paying for food, photographs with the dog then helps assess ‘ownership’. The vet advised me to first change the microchip registration and then do all the above which, in the event of a challenge would serve as evidence.

When the previous owner, who had abandoned the dog in front of my workplace came forward a year later to say it was her dog, there was sufficient evidence that she was neither the registered keeper nor had done anything to prove ownership.

I agree it’s not just about being the registered keeper, but being the registered keeper is the first step in the process of proving ownership.

My concern would be that she will try and claim the dog back in a few months or even years. So i dont know how you can legally protect yourself from that

@FireC another thought - if you know where she lives and she’s not far away, can you see if she’s actually come back and not told you? Either way, you can message and say ‘starting to worry now as you hung up on me and I don’t even know if you’re ok, so I’m going to the police’

Sorry, it’s a long story. The woman gave the dog to my colleague outside our offices saying she didn’t want her any more. Colleague couldn’t look after the dog so I took her on.

So on the one hand. That's really awful and sad and I would be keeping the dog because no fucker who cares an ounce it would leave it with someone for far longer than arranged and not even say anything. What if you had your own holiday or work commitments meaning you had to just put the dog in a shelter? It's incredibly irresponsible.

On the other hand, the crime junkie on me says, she is bothering to open and read every message you have sent, hasn't blocked you or left you on unopened, yet has not replied to any message for between 4 and 6 weeks.

You don't know where she lives so you can't physically see she is home safe, you don't have a sufficient social media relationship to tell whether she is genuinely posting herself, and you say you heard her talk once, briefly, on the phone, in a crowded or otherwise loud area.

Not many people (I'm sure some do though) spend between £2 and £3k on anything, let alone a companion animal, and just ditch it. Not many people can book a 2 week holiday but then disappear for 6 weeks.

If she was back home why wouldn't she pick the dog up? If she didn't want it why wouldn't she sell it to some other unsuspecting person or at least ask you if you want him? It's not hard to guess someone would get attached to the dog after 6 weeks. You've mentioned a potential vet trip but presumably the dog is not so ill it was worth mentioning in the OP so, presumably, he would be sellable.

Just some major major red flags in this situation. I agree with other posters saying I would send a message saying something along the lines of the following:

"Hi [ name ],

I'm sure you can understand that I'm a little concerned that you haven't made contact with me since you dropped Frenchie off. You advised you'd need dog care for 2 weeks but it's now been over 6 weeks with no word and I'm worried about you.

I have fallen in love with Frenchie over the 6 weeks we've spent together and I'm more than happy to keep him if you are no long able to care for him. However as anyone would be, I am worried about the lack of communication so please, give me a quick phone call to let me know you are okay.

If I continue to not hear from you at all I do feel like I should call the police to do a welfare check as I can see you are reading these messages, I honestly am just concerned about you at this point."

This is friendly, should cover all bases, and should help ease a response out of her if it is some kind of mental health crisis or difficult personal situation. It also gives fair and non threatening warning that you will contact the police if she doesn't get in touch with you.

P.s. Please attach dog pic for us