[DesertChildAZ]

I often go on various websites and, by comparing "lost pet" ads with "found pet" ads, try to reunite owners with their pets.

Late Wednesday night (1/16), I found a "lost pet" listing on Craiglist for two springer spaniels that was posted on the prior Sunday night (1/14). The dogs had escaped from their back yard the prior day, 1/13.

On petfinder.com, I found an "found pet" ad for two springer spaniels that had been found in the general vicinity on 1/14 (one day after the "lost" spaniels in the other ad escaped). Unfortunately, the listing said that one of the dogs had been hit by a car and died. I forwarded the petfinder ad to the craigslister who was looking for their dogs. She responded immediately with thanks and contacted the poster who had found those dogs immediately to see if they were her dogs. Later that day I followed up with her by email to see if they turned out to be her dogs. It turns out that those were, in fact, her dogs and she was devastated by the loss of one of her dogs, which was compounded by the fact that the person who found her dogs had called a rescue organization and that rescue organization is now refusing to return the living dog to it's rightful owners despite the fact that they have provided proof of ownership (including family photos showing her distinct color patterns). In a nutshell, the dogs escaped on 1/13, were discovered after one was hit by a car on 1/14, the living one turned over to the rescue organization on 1/14, the living one was spayed on 1/16 by said rescue organization. The owners contacted the rescue organization on 1/17 and were told that they couldn't have their dogs and that the organization had a "family of interest" in mind (though not yet placed in that home). This all over the course of 4 days. The person who posted the "found" ad was the person who turned it over to the rescue. The ad was not posted by the rescue. The rescue does not appear to have tried to locate the owner. Just threw up a picture of the dog on their personal website (not petfinder). The person who found the dog never contacted the city, just the rescue, so the city was not involved in any way. She has since told the owners that the rescue organization was very mean to her when she turned the dog over and that she would assist in trying to get the dog back.

What recourse, if any, both morally and legally do the original owners of this dog have to get their dog back? (I have advised them to contact the police and immediately pick up the dog from the rescue before they place the dog in a home.)

Isn't it the moral obligation of the rescue organization to try to seek the dog's original owners (particularly since it didn't go through the county's typical 72 hour wait period, Maricopa/Arizona) before finding it a home?

What are the rules here?