Oscar Wilde was right

from this morning's Herald
Family just wants its ‘old yeller dog’
But SPCA says the pooch was adopted after legal wait
By MARY ELLEN MacINTYRE Truro BureauSun. Jan 3 - 4:45 AM
There is nothing wrong with adopting out a dog within four days of it going missing from its family, says a spokeswoman for this province’s SPCA.
But the Antigonish County family whose "old yeller dog" disappeared on Dec. 19 figures they should have been given more time to find out where their dog was.
Samantha Mccullough, her boyfriend, John Lyons, and their two sons inherited five-year-old Chykato from Mr. Lyons’ father when he moved out of the province.
"He’s lived with us for eight months but he’s been a part of the family all his life," she explained.
Ms Mccullough said the dog was well loved.
"We know that according to the rules, the SPCA has to keep the dog for 72 hours before they do anything to it," said Ms. Mccullough.
But the family "looked everywhere for him," she said. "We called the radio station and then we emailed and telephoned the SPCA but didn’t get any response."
While they searched everywhere for their family pet, the dog was found by someone who called the local SPCA.
They held the dog for 72 hours, after which it was taken to a local veterinarian, given its needles, neutered and adopted by another family — all before Christmas.
By the time Ms. Mccullough made contact with the SPCA in Antigonish on Dec. 29, the dog was in a new home.
"It’s a very sad situation for this family and I appreciate that," said Kristin Williams, the SPCA’s executive director during a telephone interview Thursday.
"By law, we’re only required to hold the dog for 72 hours."
Ms. Williams said the local radio station in Antigonish was contacted after the dog was found and asked to read a public service announcement for three days. The notice remains on the station’s website. It describes a "yellow lab mix, nick in left ear, wearing a blue collar, very friendly."
The local SPCA has no record of emails or voice messages from the family, Ms. Williams said.
"The Antigonish area doesn’t have a shelter to keep the animals. They’re all fostered out and I believe we went beyond the test of reasonability in this case," she said.
"We have to do what is in the best interest of the dog. We followed the rules, took care of the dog and found a new home for him after the required time."
While Ms. Williams said she has great sympathy for the family, she said the dog’s new owners have the right to anonymity and enjoyment of their new pet.
Ms. Mccullough and her family can fight the adoption, but because the legislation is "very clear, they’ll have no legal recourse," Ms. Williams said.
"I spoke with the RCMP on this and they feel the same. It’s a difficult lesson to learn. People have to license and tag their dogs."
Had Chykato been tagged with a name and number, she suggests this problem could have been avoided.
Ms. Mccullough said she didn’t hear the announcement on the radio and insists the dog’s adoption was just too fast.
"They tell me the dog is in a loving, happy home with kids who just love him and I told them that’s what he had here, a family who loved him," she said.
"We just want our dog back."
( mmacintyre@herald.ca)
I used to love to watch Disney movies with my daughter. In this complicated world we live in, these stories were always simple. The evil stepsister never got the glass slipper and all the bad guys were clearly identifiable.
This is not that kind of story ... no sirree! Setting aside the questionable practice of adopting out a dog without the standard two week evaluation period that any reputable rescue uses .... its not the kind of positive PR story designed to endear the society to the public.
Still ... that doesn't get the original owners off the hook. ( And before the keyboards catch on fire, I am not even talking about the fact that this 'old yeller' dog was not neutered. In the comment section following the story , he posted this ever so interesting bit
hello everyone please excuse my typing it may not be the best i am the owner of the dog that is in this story i will try to answer some of the ? people are asking or stating on this story our dog was a hunting dog very good in the water and land i am an avid hunter he was tied up at the time in ? but got off and we were away when we returned the next day we noticed him gone we then called our local dog catcher who said he would keep a eye out but no reports yet and on the spca website it says they do not tend to strays so it may have have been a brain fart on our part not to call them but we did keep in contact with our dog catcher over this time and the radio stations who evidently say they have no records of the spca calling them to post our dog missing the family who has my dog my have got him under the pretense that he was abused because the women at our local spca said we had malnourished our dog which was a lie this statement was later retracted at the provincial level because if true they are supposed to conduct an investagation in which time the dog can not be adopted so can you say cover up the dog was not neutered because he was used a couple of times for breeding
Honestly ... where would one start with that... "tied up ..... when we returned the next day ".... correct me if I"m wrong but wasn't it colder than a witches' *** that week? At least it was here in the valley and its usually much more temperate here than up there. When his food dish overturned, his water froze and he was freezing his controversial bits off, I expect the dog was just sensibly looker for warmer and friendlier digs.
Breeding .... seriously? I'd lay odds there are no CKC registration papers in the old owner's back pocket. (the subject of how one society branch president is also a dog breeder is a separate and very interesting topic to pursue on another day ) If there was a dog in heat anywhere in a five mile radius, Old Yeller could have just been busting out to warm up with a party, eh?
Anyone who has followed this blog knows exactly what this middle aged granny thinks of the practice of chaining and penning dogs. It sounds to me like this old fella may just have spent the best Christmas of his life .... as I'd lay odds that his new family aren't leaving him tied out while they go away for a day or two.
If there is one thing that this story clearly points out, its the need for a province wide free municipal dog licenses for microchipped and altered pets. It might not have got old Yeller back to his original owners, but it would be great protection for the gradually growing segment of the population who are embracing better and kinder animal husbandry practices for their pets.
And yes .... those who open their homes and their hearts to adopt a homeless pet are entitled to the protection of anonymity. Breaching that trust would be a serious setback for pet adoption everywhere in the province. Not to mention how devastating it would be for the pets that have found better lives.
What time is it? Its time for someone at the herald to do a real story .... about chaining and penning dogs.
The truth is rarely pure and never simple Oscar Wilde