Now radiant and healthy, this dog is more than a pet; she is a lifeline, a source of joy and strength. Yet the past resurfaced unexpectedly when her original owner, separated by miles and time, reached out with gratitude and a desire to reunite. In this delicate intersection of past and present, love and loss, the true meaning of care and connection unfolds.
About 7 months ago a friend found a dog near her house. I took her in and called animal control. They said to bring her in to look for a microchip. She was underweight with dirty fur.
AC couldn’t find a microchip so they said I could hold onto her for a week and they would list her on their website and if nobody claimed her I could adopt her. So that’s exactly what happened.
My dog now has shiny fur and is very healthy. She is polite and walks well on a leash. She does lots of tricks. I have depression and anxiety and she’s my support animal. She’s honestly the light of my life.
Last month I joined a Facebook group for the same unusual purebreed that my dog is. I posted a picture of her in the group. A woman was tagged and a few hours later she DMs me. She said my dog was her dog and she was so thankful I found her and wanted to arrange to come get her.
She offered to pay me for taking good care of her.
I thought she was trying to scam me since she lived across the country but when I looked into it I found her IG with alot of dog pictures and videos. My dog has very unique markings so it was unmistakeably the same dog as the one in her pictures.
My dog is a show champion and had a lot of training to do obedience, agility and a few others I’ve never heard of. She has alot of fancy titles too. My dog was clearly well cared for, well trained, and well loved.
She said her house caught fire last year and she lost everything, including my dog who ran away. Nobody knows how she traveled so far or what happened between when she got lost and when my friend found her.
She never stopped looking for my dog. She even had a video of my dog as a super cute puppy getting a microchip. No idea why the shelter and my vet couldn’t find it but my dog had one at some point.
Here’s the part where I might be TA.I told the woman I appreciated the great job she did with my dog for the first few years of her life (she’s 5) and I was sorry to hear about her circumstances but I couldn’t give up my beloved girl.
She’s my support animal so I’m not even sure I could live without her. I offered to send her pictures regularly but she turned really nasty. I got tons of hateful messages from people I don’t even know.
I had panic attacks whenever I got notifications because her friends acted like it’s my fault. I didn’t choose for this special dog to change my life so much anymore than she chose for my dog to get lost.
I ultimately blocked her because she wouldn’t leave me alone.
Since she was listed with the shelter for the hold period and no microchip was found, I’ve adopted her and she’s mine. I am legally in the right but am I morally wrong? I know she loves my dog and wants her back but I can’t picture a life without her.
Not one where I’m happy anyway. If I could clone my dog and give this chick one I would.
Conclusion
The original poster (OP) is facing a significant emotional dilemma, caught between their legal right to the dog they adopted and the deep emotional bond they have formed, especially considering the dog serves as a crucial support animal for their mental health. The central conflict arises from the dog’s original owner presenting compelling evidence of ownership and emotional attachment, which directly clashes with the OP’s need to maintain their current stability and happiness.
Given that the OP is legally in the clear but morally conflicted over the original owner’s clear distress and prior ownership, is it justifiable to prioritize personal mental health and established bond over returning a beloved, high-value show dog to its original, grieving owner?
Here’s how people reacted:
This isn’t finders keepers. I can’t believe how selfish you are being this is truly insane.
YTA
Oh no you’re having panic attacks because people are messaging you because you won’t give a woman her dog
Of course she got mad about the pictures, you’re basically taunting her. She sees her dog but it’s just out of reach because of YOU.
It seriously sucks to have to part ways with a pup that you love, I get that, but this is someone else’s dog.
“I’m so lucky this woman went through this tragedy! Scooped her dog right up! I mean pre-tragedy she was her owner for about 50 months and invested in a bunch of training and good life things or whatever, agility and enrichment stuff I haven’t heard of. I mean heck, I’m lucky it’s this woman whose house burned down because the dog is well trained because of her. Thankfully, it took her seven months of non stop searching to find out that I had it, so I think that means I get to keep it? I mean I’ve had it for SEVEN months. She only had it for FIFTY months until she lost everything! Sure, she was probably elated to find her dog but its cute and I like it. She trained it so well just for me! so I mean why would I give it back to her. I’m soooo lucky the microchip failed too because i wouldn’t even have her if it had worked LUCKY ME AGAIN! Her pain is my happiness. I SAID I LIKE THE DOG. I mean I’m calling it my dog so that’s what it is. Now people are messaging me to give her dog back where it was such a part of her life that someone else recognized its ownership and it’s making me sad 🙁 I mean just think how sad **i** might be. I mean it’s a special dog. She trained it that way. am I a jerk for keeping this woman’s dog?”
Also, what if she had the dog for 10 years, would that make a difference to you? No, it wouldn’t. 5 is 1/3 of a dog’s life, if not more, anyways.
And, if you get to the nitty gritty, she was a better owner. This dog must be very intelligent, and you claim yourself that there were trainings and things this dog does that you haven’t heard of (and haven’t taken the time to research or participate in) this woman put her heart and soul into animal care, and you want to keep it cause it’s a good dog, *because of the woman who is the owner, who trained and cared for it that way* how can you, morally, even make THAT decision? To take a dog away from significant intellectual and physical stimulation to being a regular house pet.
If you don’t give this dog back, you are a bad person. I wonder how you will feel when you watch the dog’s tail wagging like crazy going back to its owner.
**”Woman loses everything in house fire, was able to find her beloved dog after 7 months of searching! It was being taken care of by someone that took it in as their own”**
OR
**”tragedy strikes again: woman whose house burned down is devastated after a non stop search for her beloved dog when the person who found her dog refuses to give it back”**
If one of your friends’ houses burned down, and you found something on the street from it that was nice and well kept, but didn’t know it was theirs, and they found out you had it, would you give it back? I assume yes (otherwise you really need to see a psychologist). The only difference is because a dog isn’t inanimate, you got more attached to it.
Imagine meeting new people and they ask where you got the dog. “A woman’s house caught on fire, this was her dog, she trained it to be a show dog and everything, and after searching for months, she saw that I found it. I kept it tho ayyyy”
>appreciated the great job she did with my dog for the first few years of her life (she’s 5)
Like WTF 5 years is half the life of some dog breeds and she did everything right, she loved and trained this dog and got it microchipped despite it not being detected
I had my dog for 7 years when I lost him and thankfully found him a few days later. It was an absolutelly terrible feeling and I can’t imagine having lost him for much longer like this lady has lost HER dog. She lost so much in a fire and she has likely suffered a lot. Yet you decide to be a selfish pick and keep HER dog hostage. Give it back. Go to the shelter and adopt a different dog. It sucks but this is HER dog and she has every right to get her back.
Something terrible happened to her and from what you’ve described she loved that dog and treated her well, until circumstances outside her control took the dog away from her. You’re being incredibly selfish by keeping her from her family.
How would you feel if this happened to you? If you had a dog you loved for five years and someone refused to give her back, especially after you’d lost everything in a fire? Please give her the dog back.
EDIT: fixed a typo
YTA.
Edit: Thanks for the silver, that’s my first reddit reward!
Give the dog back.
Do the right thing and give the poor family back **their** dog.