Pet Legal Q&A

I work as a firefighter in the twin cities. Last Wednesday, we arrived to work in the morning and had a dog tied to a light pole outside the fire station. It was accompanied with some of her belongings and a note stating why she was left there. I took her home and the CSO working that day was aware. 5 days later, he said he contacted the previous owners, and they now want her back. They claim that a friend that was watching her did this and not them. Now they wish to have her back. Do we now have custody or is she still theirs?

End of Sept 2024 I signed adoption paperwork on behalf of my daughter's friend because she was underage & unable to legally adopt the cat with the understanding that she would take care of him properly & if she couldn't I would take ownership of the cat or return him to the humane society. We discussed transfer of ownership when she became of age if she could properly take care of him. Recently I have come to find that she has been abusive: throwing him in the air, shaking him, dragging him across the floor or outside when he refuses to walk, shoving his head into cat nip to try to force him to eat it when he doesn't want it, shoving him into the tub & holding him down after he jumped from the tub during a bath, locking him in a closet, using him as a puppet causing popping in his legs. She took in a stray prior to that & waited months to finally take her in for an eye infection & her apartment is always a mess with trash & food everywhere. She was already informed prior that I planned on taking him back if things didn't change. When things didn't, within a week I informed her I'd be picking him up & called the cops but was advised it was a civil matter since she refuses to return him believing she is a co-owner, but she is not on the paperwork at all as I am the legal owner. How do I go about initiating a civil suit for the return of the cat I adopted?