Originally posted here, written by me.

http://thepetdoctormb.com/blog/?p=1165

The world as we know it today is filled with many different kinds of people. Not all of them are good I’m afraid. You may encounter these “bad” people even if you are doing something positive in this world. Just met with a client that went through a terrifying ordeal with their pet who was lost for a little while. In the span of 30 minutes time the dog jumped the fence and was picked up by a good Samaritan in the neighborhood. They could find no identifying tags on the pet so they posted a “Lost dog” ad on Craigslist which as we all know is region specific. This was done in the good faith that maybe their owner would search and find the pet on there. Within a few hours a family comes to claim the pet. This dog is one sweet, loving, gorgeous dog that would go with anyone who beckoned him so naturally the good Samaritan didn’t know better when this family claimed him.

The people who claimed him weren’t his actual owners and they took the dog and did God only knows what to him. He wasn’t neutered so he was possibly going to be used as a stud dog, or possibly as a fighting dog. A sad truth, but people will claim lost dogs online for plenty of nefarious purposes. The actually owner of the dog found the craigslist ad and contacted the lady who found the pet and was horrified to find out that she has given away this woman’s dog. She eagerly gives up all info she had on the person who claimed the pet. The real owner called the police and gave all the info to them so they could retrieve her pet, only for the police to say that there is no way for them to prove that the pet belongs to the owner if they were to go. The owner promptly replied that she has the pet microchipped. They simply, and rudely responded “We don’t carry scanners on us to check.”

The owner was appalled at this fact, because they were going to do nothing to help her retrieve her pet. Luckily she had a friend who was a detective that took it upon themselves to investigate the case. As the pressure mounted against the thieves they arranged an exchange for the pet and the owner got their dog back. Normally this would be a happy ending, but we don’t live in a normal world. The pet was returned with puncture wounds and lacerations all over its body that cost the owner money to repair. Money that 9 times out of 10 a person isn’t prepared to spend at the drop of a hat. It’s shocking that a person can do all they can for their pet and have a microchip put in and still receive no help from the police. In this case the owner was reunited with their pet, but that isn’t always the outcome. some people lose their family member forever sadly.

If a case like this ever occurs to you and you have a microchip implanted in your dog and you call the cops for help, possibly request that animal control go out there with them or instead of them. Animal patrol officers carry scanners, or at least are more likely to than a police officer. Continue to press the issue, especially if you are basically spoon feeding the police all the information they need to retrieve your pet.

Here in Myrtle Beach we can call the Horry County Dispatch, 843-248-1520, and ask to speak with animal control.

Never sit back and think this could never happen to you, it very well could. We pray that it never does, but if it does Hopefully you can have a happy ending like in this case.

-Poetic Ice