Pequeno is a small young friendly dog who escaped his yard earlier this month. He was picked up by police and taken to Pet Rescue. His owner very much wanted him back, but didn't have the money right away to pay his release fee. While the owner was waiting for their paycheck, Pet Rescue adopted him out to a different family. Pequeno's original owner still desperately wants to get him back.
There's of course a lot we don't know about the situation, but many people in the community have concerns. Why did Pet Rescue adopt out a dog they knew had a owner who wanted him back? Many people are concerned that Pet Rescue may have been motivated to adopt out such cute, young, friendly and highly-adoptable dog since they could make more money that way than on a release fee. Why are they refusing to work with the original owner at all at this point? Couldn't they get the adopter in contact with the original owner without compromising the adopter's personal information?
People are concerned that Pet Rescue is lying about what happened to Pequeno; they're concerned he was actually euthanized or sold, or that their record keeping is so haphazard that they simply don't know who took him.
Poorly-handled situations like this erode the community's trust in their animal shelter.
Certainly, Pet Rescue is not required to hold on to dogs indefinitely if their owners aren't able to pick them up right away. But, as a pet owner myself, it's scary to think what might happen to one of my pets if they escaped their yard.
Original information here.
