Woman Confronts Rescue Group After Lost Dog Is Adopted By Another Family
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Symara Moses' dog ran away a few weeks ago and now she can't get him back – because another family quickly adopted him.
Now, Moses says the rescue group that allowed the adoption will not respond to her – so she showed up at their fundraising event. CBS 2's Tim McNicholas tagged along.
Moses' main goal is to get her dog, Kobe, back. But on Wednesday, she just wanted to talk to the rescue group Fetching Tails Foundation, which allowed someone else to adopt the 10-year-old dog while she was still looking for him.
So Moses showed up at the Fetching Tails Foundation fundraising event, but a co-founder wouldn't talk to her.
"No, this is not happening," the co-founder said. "This an event."
Moses said she emailed the group's president Monday, asking if she could meet with the new owners. She said Fetching Tails has not responded.
Moses said she does not know the number for the foundation because they do not list one online. No one answered the door at a Fetching Tails Foundation office CBS 2 found in Wood Dale.
"I think we have a very big, but simple issue here, but if dialogue is not even open, then we can't even get started," Moses said.
Moses and her kids said Kobe got scared of the fireworks and ran off July 5. They did not realize he had been found by animal care workers the next day, and taken to Chicago Animal Care and Control.
Kobe stayed there for three days, and then he was transferred to Fetching Tails Foundation. That organization neutered him, microchipped him, treated an ear infection, and then – after a week with Fetching Tails – animal care workers said another family legally adopted him.
"Get your dog chipped, and then you wouldn't be going through this," Moses said. "So, that is the biggest lesson."
Moses said she has not heard from Fetching Tails since Sunday, when she was told the new family will not give the dog up.
The Fetching Tails co-founder would not discuss the issue at the fundraiser – with Moses or with CBS 2.
When asked by a CBS 2 Reporter how Moses could get her dog back, the Fetching Tails co-founder said "we will have our lawyer contact you."
Moses said she is not ready to give up, and she is trying to figure out what to do next.
The rescue's lawyer spoke with CBS 2 Thursday. Find the follow-up story here.
In a Facebook post Thursday Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) wrote the following regarding the story:
"This is an unintended consequence of decreasing the stray hold to a shorter time frame thereby giving owners a smaller window to find their lost pet. Sadly this happens more often than we know about.
I tried to address this previously but was told by our Department of Law that legally, once an animal passes the three-day stray hold threshold, they are now legally considered city property and can be adopted, transferred to a rescue or euthanized regardless if the owner discovers them after that time frame.
It is unfortunate that the rescue has refused to do the right thing and return the animal to its rightful owner. An animal advocate friend of mine has a saying, "Pets don't always need a new home, sometimes they just need to go home."
