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Originally Posted by kreuer  There has been a lot of discussion on here recently (sometimes heated) about what to do when finding a lost dog with no tags/microchip. It got me interested in looking at the legal responsibilities when finding or taking in a dog. Someone on another post said something about you are legally responsibly to seek out the owners. When I looked online the only thing I saw was you are legally responsible to contact animal control within a certain amount of time (I think 48 hours). Not sure if this is different from state to state. It is then the responsibility of the owner to seek out their dog. That being said, many would say there is a moral responsibility to seek out the owners. If someone was to take the dog to an animal shelter, I know they would not put up fliers, canvas neighborhoods, or go on craigslist to find the owner. They will wait for the owner to contact them, and if not, adopt the dog out (or euthanize).
Just wanted to see if anyone else has information about legal rights and responsibilities regarding lost dogs in their state to share with the forum. |
You are LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE for looking for an owner. It is call Finder Law of Lost Chatties which isn't necessarily law on the books and could be a common law principle of finders of lost chattles (money or goods).
Let's say you have a boat and it gets away from your slip and ends up over in the neighbors slip. That does not mean that the boat is now your property. It belongs to someone and needs to be returned. A found dog is the exact same thing since animals are considered PROPERTY! So a reasonable effort needs to be made to find the owners. Here's another example: I found a bag of money on the side of the road and took it home and said it was mine.....finders keeper losers weepers......
You do not need to turn a lost dog into animal control but you do need to notify them if an owner is looking they will know where to find the dog.
As I said above, Finders Chatties is a very broad area and include property that would include lost animals as well.