What would you do

Lately I've seen this ShihTzu on a rope in a driveway. 2 weeks ago I meet this older man walking the pup. He tells me he's rehoming him because he doesn't feel he can give his dog what he deserves, lives in a bachelor apt. I tried to convince him his dog probably would prefer being with him but in the end I wished both him and his pup luck.

This morning while chatting with a neighbour she shows me a flyer of a missing ShihTzu since Dec'09 with a name very similar to the the pup I had met. I call the owner to find out more. It appears the older man found his dog (seen a flyer) in Dec called him (from a pay phone) and asked for $300 or he'd never see his dog again. The original owner didn't refuse to give the money but simply was trying to find out whether or not it was his dog but the older man got upset that he wasn't cooperating fast enough and hung up.

Myself, the older man and the original owner all live within a 2 min walking distance, weird.

The problem is the older man already rehomed the dog. I suspect sold him.

His children still miss him and they want him back. One of the younger kids accidentally left the back gate opened. The pup is spayed/UTD shots and had a city tagged.

I gave the owner the man's address. I'd present myself, offer whatever funding had been incurred anything really just to get my dog back. If he doesn't cooperate I'd press charges for not reporting a lost dog, extorsion and the sale of private property.

Wish I had seen that flyer. What would you do if you were the owner?

If I was the owner, I would have made an agreement with the old man to meet up to pay the ransome and bring the cops with me...what a horrible thing to do to someone. :frustrated:

Now, I am not sure what can be done, cuz no one can prove the dog was the lost dog and I doubt the old man will give up the name of who he sold it to in order to prove it. :shrug:

What a jerk the old guy! Trying to make a buck on someone who is worried about their lost dog!

I think if something like that happened to me, I'd contact the police. Make whatever arrangements I could with the person who has my pet then let the cops arrest his butt!

Now, I am not sure what can be done, cuz no one can prove the dog was the lost dog and I doubt the old man will give up the name of who he sold it to in order to prove it. :shrug:Forgot to add it was confirmed by another neighbour (or I wouldn't of given address)he had told them he found the dog but after speaking with the owner he felt he was just too irresponsible to return him :loser:

btw when he was asking for ransom he told the owner he was in rescue :eek:

The owner plans on going at 5 - he will also take notice of his voice. I'm almost sure he's going to have to get the police involved. I remember feeling something was off with this guy he was really depressing. I just hope they can get their dog back somehow, pup must of been waiting all that time to be found :sad:

wow how horrible. Ive been there before with my bunduk when he got out (someone found him asked for ransom..long story).....its awful :(

I hope the guy is able to get his dog back

Oh my goodness, I sure hope the original owner involves the police. I take it the pup wasn't microchipped as additional proof of ownership? I feel bad for the new family that just unknowingly bought a stolen dog too, but definitely, that dog needs to go back to the original owner and the old guy prosecuted! I hope they have enough evidence to prove it all. How sad and awful. :(

I have dealt with incidents like this many times, although it is usually a cell phone that is the "property" being held for $, rather than a dog. It's considered extortion, although at this point criminal charges would be highly unlikely. If the dog wasn't reported as lost or stolen with the police, and the actual extortion attempt was reported at the time, the crown wouldn't have any interest in pursuing charges.

Either way I hope this poor pup goes home!

I would definately get the police involved, dig out all my vet papers, records of shots, groomer visits etc, plus signed statements from friends etc showing he/they were searching for the lost dog and take along one of the fliers that was posted.

OMG, how horrible. I know that if I was the owner, I would be doing everything I can to get my dog back. Mind you, I never would have waited 6 months to do so because I wouldn't have been able to sleep. I can't believe that they lived so close and he never saw the dog.

Please GG - update us if you have any other information in regards to this. Hopefully this ends well with the dog being with the rightful owner. This guy needs to be exposed and fined. If animals are 'possessions' then the law should cover this case accordingly.

BM Our streets are all one way, criss-crossing so by car I can see how he'd never need to go down that guy's street to go home and with 5 children doubt he had alot of time to go walking but he never gave up and constantly called AC etc and replaced flyers ... When someone steals your dog one doesn't have much chance usually of ever getting them back. I'm kinda of nosy when it comes to people's pets and know who's who :D

I missed his call last night but apparently the man agreed to get back the dog and a reunion is to take place at 7h30 this evening. I have no details but very curious :fingerscr

I hope the right thing prevails and the dog is reunited with his rightful owners. :pray:

way to go GG!!! (pats you on the back) another notch in your belt girlfriend. Let us know if it all goes well *crossing my fingers*

Good for you GG! I expect nothing less of you Girl - you ROCK!:thumbs up

Way to go Golden Girls. You were obviously in the right place at the right time.

Wow. So this old man decided that the true owner was irresponsible because he wouldn't fork over $300 immediately?? Pffffft. I think I would've agreed to the ransom but I doubt the old man would've been happy with me deciding to give him a swift kick to the a$$ instead of the money once I had the dog! We had a puppy stolen from us when I was young - a great dane named Dudley Dooright (yes after the cartoon character). I was heartbroken, cried for weeks. Then my stepdad saw the pup one day, and he knew it was him because of a scar on his face. My stepdad called the police, but by the time they got back to the house he'd seen him at, he was gone. We never saw him again.

Kudos to you for making it possible for this dog to be returned to his rightful family!!!!

What a sad situation. I can't believe people are so greedy!

When you hear something new let us know!

It's not over yet. The owner (with a friend) went to this man's house as scheduled and he was outside waiting with his friend and no dog :frustrated:

He said he cannot get the dog back, he's somewhere in Ottawa :confused: The owner without another word called the police who gave him till Thrusday night to give him back his dog.

Even the police couldn't get this man to understand. He's playing "I'm insane and can do what I want" card. He was told if he doesn't have the dog at that time he will be arrested.

He apparently told another neighbour he's going to try and find another dog that looks like him to pass it off as he thinks the owner is crazy

I'm very nervous about this man. So many free to good home ads ... and then you have people like him. Just scary!

This reads like a crime-story,hopefully with a happy ending:pray:
GG,I am just like you,nosy,and I keep track of every dog/cat in the neighborhood:laughing:
Sometimes,like with you and this person,it's a good thing:dog:

I have a soft spot for Shih Tzu's. You don't want to know what I would do to that piece of crap. I hope the little one makes it home...Poor little baby.

This story is so sad. What keeps tugging at me is that this pup would go walking right where his (human) siblings played in the park in daycare every single day. I can't imagine how desperate he felt being able to smell them knowing their right there :sad:

Chico I think it's not really a nosy thing more like when you love animals so much it's an automatic instinct to want to know who's who, what's their name, where did they get such a cute pup etc I'm very casual then again who doesn't love talking about their pets :)

But every now and again you meet a person like this ... there goes a week or two :frustrated:

I would definitely show up with the police and I would print a bazillion flyers in the hopes that whoever has the dog now would step up and do the right thing. I'm sure they don't know the circumstances but maybe if they find out what happened they'll willingly return the dog!

I have soft spot for shih tzu's too. I worry about my guy being taken because it would be so easy. He loves the whole world and you wouldn't have to convince him to go with you---just scoop him up and run!

GG,I did not mean "bad"nosy,I tend to keep an eye on animals arund here too and if something bothers me,I'll try to do something.
Hubby still think's I am nosy,though:laughing:

GG,I did not mean "bad"nosy,I tend to keep an eye on animals arund here too and if something bothers me,I'll try to do something.
Hubby still think's I am nosy,though:laughing:I know you do :thumbs up, tell hubby it's a "good nosy" :)

Update As stated the police were called July 16th and they gave him one week to bring back their dog in which he admitted to of rehomed. We went back on the 23rd as planned and the napper just stood there saying he didn't know where the dog was. The Police were called again but this time the guy pretended he didn't know what was going on to the point where even officers lost their tempers.

So officially the owners pressed charges and this is going to court :yell:

So officially the owners pressed charges and this is going to court :yell:

and nobody knows where the dog is ???? :wall:

they should get someone to talk about this in the local paper and post story and picture of the dog. Maybe the person who took this dog from the dognapper would read it and give the dog back :goodvibes:

hey...GG you need to clear your PM box so that I can send you the poster that your wanted.

Thanks BenMax for crossposting (Friday) my SOS plea to your contacts (hug)

I didn't want to say anything in open forum until after but through the wonderful world of rescue & networking I was contacted by an awesome rescue telling me a guy had called her two weeks ago saying he had found a dog but now is on the verge of being arrested because he doesn't want to give it back to the owners as he felt he was very very abused and neglected? He then asked if he could borrow a dog so he can prove to the police it wasn't the same dog. Of course she didn't involve herself BUT he had filled out an adoption form way back when and on it DING DING one of his references was where the dog was.

The owners hadn't had the time to give this info to the police because the woman ended up being hospitalized over the weekend for anxiety. (this put her over the top as she was very nervous after meeting him and wondered if he had done something really bad to her dog) She was a mess with worry.

Goodness! But GREAT news ... yesterday he called back this rescue asking if he could surrender to her and she was to pretend a woman found him, so twisted!

She went along with him and had to meet him in Tim Buck Two :angel2: then brought him to me where the owners and three of their children were waiting.

WOW the stress vanished just looking at their happy faces!

Thanks for everyone who helped - and to the rescue for going above and beyond your amazing :thumbs up

hey...GG you need to clear your PM box so that I can send you the poster that your wanted.Could you email me that photo please?

GG,do I understand right?? The pup is back with his original owner??
If so that's fantastic news,thank's to you and others:highfive:

Wow, what a mess that man created. I'm very happy the dog is back with his owners. I hope they bring some sort of charges to this man. He's obviously VERY disturbed.

Yes Chico he's back home! The Shih-Tzu even has a big brother now as they took their Grandfather's 10 yr old dog in when he RIP died a few weeks ago. But they grew up together and are best bud's ... great news all around!

The power of the internet! So glad everyone was connected to put the puzzle together. :highfive:.

Thanks GG for staying on top of this and keep this ball rolling. Thankfully, there was a happy ending do to your investigating techniques.

And let's not forget the police in this case. They actually took this seriously. Gives me alittle hope then.:thumbs up

Good going GG!!! It's wonderful you stuck in there and saw that through. Not many people would. You are a true doggie :angel:! :highfive:
Oooppps, sorry BM, didn't mean to miss you! Great job as always!!! :highfive:

Wahoo :thumbs up :highfive:, great going GG and BenMax.

Somehow I missed this thread :confused: and just read it now. :o

GG & BenMax, you are both truly amazing wonderful people :angel: and I'm so glad that this story had such a happy ending. :thumbs up

Is the nutjob going to be charged? :fingerscr

I did the cross post request, however the rescue that read this post were the ones that connected the dots and persued the rest with GG.

It is so great when we get some good news isn't it!

Yes Ben-Max it sure is:thumbs up
I already knew GG is an incredibly caring person,she would not let this incident just go over her head,not when it's about a pup needing to go home to his rightful owners.
:grouphug:to everyone involved!

Could you email me that photo please?

I can't email you anything...your pm box is full.....you need to empty your mailbox

Oh YAY!!! I'm so glad there is a happy ending!!!! I still cannot believe that man! Butthank goodness it all worked out! That poor dog!!!

woohoo ! good job you guys ! :thumbs up

Is the nutjob going to be charged? :fingerscrThe owners said their going to ask for the police's advice. Animal related issues aren't taken very seriously but I'd like at least for this file to stay open in case he does this again.

BenMax remember the GSD guard dogs? These same officers accepted a complaint.(It's always a good idea when reporting a cruelty complaint to ask dispatcher to send an animal loving officer) I did wait four hrs *my punishment* but it was worth it, their awesome :thumbs up

I'm just so relieved this dog is safe and back home. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

I can't email you anything...your pm box is full.....you need to empty your mailboxit's clean now sorry :o

BenMax remember the GSD guard dogs? These same officers accepted a complaint.(It's always a good idea when reporting a cruelty complaint to ask dispatcher to send an animal loving officer) I did wait four hrs *my punishment* but it was worth it, their awesome :thumbs up



:sorry::offtopic: I hope it was a positive outcome for these pups, I missed what became of them :o.

I offered to buy them when Lamarche & Pinard went bankrupt but all their stock was sold to Cerca. Both MSPCA and AnimaQuebec visited/inspected their health. According to law they weren't neglected ... their guard dogs. Cerca did eventually replaced them, I'm assuming with younger/healthier dogs. I haven't visited the new dogs nor do I know where my two went :sad: