Question
On March 23rd my dog went missing from a friends who was watching him, I didnt find out for 2 weeks that he was missing they didn't want to tell me they lied every time I asked to see him. He ended up at the animal shelter where, they are saying they have ownership of him, and they are neutering him, and I have to pay $200 and adopt him. My question is are they allowed to do that. I dont want him neutered and i cant afford $200. This is not fair my dog has been through enough he needs to just come home.
Answer
Yes, this dog has been through an ordeal. There are laws requiring shelters to hold lost and stray animals in order to give the animals’ “parents” an opportunity to retrieve their missing pets. The number of days shelters must hold animals varies throughout the country and sometimes even among municipalities within the same state. People who reclaim their animals usually must pay an impound fee. People who do not retrieve their animals in a timely manner often lose rights to those animals. After the expiration of the legal hold period, shelters can generally re-home the animals. Many shelters spay/neuter animals prior to releasing the animals for adoption. In fact, there are many state and local laws that require shelters to either spay/neuter prior to releasing animals for adoption and/or require shelters to collect a spay/neuter deposit from adopters with the proviso that the animals be spayed/neutered within a specified amount of time. For example, King County, WA law states: “Any dog or cat over the age of six months adopted from an animal shelter in King County shall be spayed or neutered before transfer to the owner.” The law also states: “No person shall own or harbor any cat or dog over the age of six months that has not been spayed or neutered unless the person holds an unaltered animal license for the animal…” There is an overpopulation of dogs and cats and there are so many wonderful dogs and cats in shelters waiting for a home. Consider how many animals this dog could have impregnated while roaming unattended outside. Spaying and neutering can also provide health benefits. I hope this all works out well for the dog.
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