[Deadbug]

I was reading the S&I forum and this question popped into my head. I was curious what the general consensus would do if presented with a situation such as this.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

You're out and about in your neighborhood, walking your dogs when you come upon another Yorkie just running about unsupervised. You bring the dog to your home for the sake of safety and then start asking around to locate the owner. A day or 2 goes by and it's obvious this little dog is ill and needs the attention of a vet. I venture to say that most of us would take the dog to the vet and seek the help it needs, so in my hypothetical mind, I'm going to assume we all would.

Supposing this dog racks up a substantial vet bill beyond the initial exam fees. For the sake of argument, let's say $300, which is pretty likely. After several days, the owners are located and they want their dog back.

Now comes the part where reality steps in. In this economy, $300 is a substantial amount of money to just walk away from for most people. Particularly over someone else's irresponsibility. In a perfect world, we'd all vet the dog and forget about it. But this isn't a perfect world. And we like to lead others to think that it's exactly what we would do. But what would you REALLY do?

Would you request the owners reimburse you for the expenses? Obviously you can't force them, but would you at least ask?
Be honest. (It's ok to not be rich.)

My answer: I'm financially comfortable (not rich) and I still think I would expect the owners to pay for their dog's treatment.