Elinor D. Molbegott, is an attorney who maintains a law practice devoted to animal law. Elinor donates her time to answer questions from North Shore Animal League America supporters who would like to learn more about animal law.
The dog shelter gave my dog to the wrong person. This person claimed that they were the owner when they weren't, and I want my dog back. What can I do if the shelter won't resolve this?
I need help with retrieving a dog that was stolen from me. The courts dropped the case without locating the dog. What do I do?
I have two cats that are in my name, and I adopted them when I was with my ex boyfriend. We were together for over 2 years, and I got them at the end of our relationship. I bought many things for them that he still has. We came to an agreement that he would keep one cat, and I would keep the other, because he has a 4-year-old daughter so I didn't want to take them both away from her. However, I was letting him keep them both until I was settled, and the agreement was for me to be able to visit the daughter and my cats in the meantime. The kittens are now approximately 6 months old. I adopted them and took them to all of their first vet visits. Now he isn't letting me even see them and has broken contact with me. Am I able to have a police escort me to go and get them?
My sister and her boyfriend adopted a cat about 3 years ago, but she has left the cat in my and my mother’s care for three years. She has her own apartment, but she took in two dogs instead of this cat. She pays the medical bills, but we house, feed, and change his kitty litter. Does she have legal custody of him because she pays his bills, and at any time can she take him from us because of this?
My ex has legal ownership of our dog. However, he moved to Toronto (4 hours away) and works too much, so he left the dog with me to take care of. Now, 2 years later, he decided to come to the region and wants the dog back, even with his same schedule that is too busy to take care of a dog. Do I have a case in the courts seeing that I have been this dog's guardian for the past 2 years? He has only seen the dog twice a year for the past 2 years.
I was leaving my apartment to drop my dog off at the daycare, and I usually set my window down halfway for her. As we were leaving, I had to stop to let a new tenant that was walking her dog cross the road. She didn’t cross the road but continued to walk towards us at the edge of the asphalt so I could drive through. I put my car in gear, but my dog (who gets along and plays with 90% of the dogs at my apartment complex) jumped out and ran over to meet this new dog. The owner freaked out and snatched her dog off the ground by the leash. The interaction was no more than a second. I got out of my car and went over to grab my dog to put her back in the car. At this point her dog was yelping, not sure if it was from fright or whiplash. I went to see if her dog was okay and saw no blood. My dog was accused of biting her dog and I was summoned a $250 vet invoice that she wants me to pay.
We purchased a German Shepard from a Pet Store and had all the papers and the Breeder's information. When we brought her home she had diarrhea. I called the pet store and they said it was the change in food or just a sensitivity to the change in her environment. We ending up rushing her to a vet when she started vomiting. We had only had her for 3 days. They checked her for all kinds of things and put her on a special diet. She straightened out in a couple of days and then it started again after a month, so she has had bouts of diarrhea on and off. We've now been to 2 different vets. She has all her shots. Before her lyme shot she was a healthy and 60 lbs. She started the next day with diarrhea, and in two weeks was down to 50 lbs. We of course went to a third vet to get a second opinion. They found that she has a pancreas problem and can't digest her food. From start to finish with the vets, we have spent over $3,000 in vets, tests, food, and the most recent vet bill was $625. We are a retired couple on a fixed income. I called the Pet Store and the Breeder. The breeder offered to give us a replacement. We don't want a replacement. We want our dog. She will be okay as long as she stays on special food and meds at the price of $650 a month. I called the Pet store to see if they could do something. We ran out of money and had to return her to the Pet store and are trying to work out a solution with assistance with the meds and food. Isn't there a law that prohibits this kind of stuff? What can I do?
My friend went to jail and had his dog put in foster care until he got out. Now the dog has been adopted, and the place that adopted him is saying that he relinquished his rights.
I am watching my friend's ferret. Right from the start, the 6-month-old ferret was very lethargic. I did my research and I found out that I should take the ferret to the vet ASAP, but her ferret has never been to the vet before. I'm worried that the ferret might not make it.
Saturday morning I saw a post on Facebook asking if anyone could take in an abandoned dog. The story I got was that the family left the dog over a year ago and the neighbor had been feeding her and taking care of her as best as he could do, but he could no longer do it. My husband and I decided to take her in. When we arrived, she had flies and fleas all over her. We gave her a bath and took her to the vet. She has sores all over her and both her ears are severely infected. We got medicine and treatment and spent $200. She obviously wasn't being taken care of. Now the owner wants her back. The dog is happy and adjusting well with us and our other dogs. Is there anything we can do to keep her?