Woman Sues Chicago Animal Care And Control, After Her Lost Dog Was Put Up For Adoption And New Family Won't Give Him Back

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A young Chicago woman is heartbroken with Zeus, her beloved golden retriever, no longer in her life.

The sadness could have been avoided, Karly Moran-West said, if city workers had done their jobs and followed Illinois law. As CBS 2's Jim Williams reported Tuesday, she has filed suit to get the dog back.

Moran-West said her golden retriever puppy was a perfect match the moment she saw him.

"Zeus, he was very outgoing - he came straight up to me," she said. "He was playing with us, and I was like, that is the one I want. He acts exactly like me."

For six years, Moran-West had the dog she called Zeus.

"He was very outgoing. He was very lovable," she said. "He loved everybody."

Moran-West embroidered Zeus' name and her cell number into his red collar. If he got lost, the contact information was right there.

"I'm still blown away by the fact that there's a dog with a collar, with a phone number - and nobody saw fit to call," said Moran-West's attorney, Jonathan Rosen.

That is the heart of the allegation in Moran-West's lawsuit against the city's Department of Animal Care and Control. Its workers found Zeus when he escaped from the backyard of Moran-West's dad's home in January of last year.

Moran-West said she never received a call from Animal Control before it turned the dog over to Fetching Tails, an animal rescue agency.

Zeus was then adopted by another family.

"I was very depressed," Moran-West said. "I cried for two weeks."

"We were told by Fetching Tails Foundation that they reached out to the family and the family said no," added Rosen.

No, the family would not return Zeus to Moran-West. The lawsuit argues the city and Fetching Tails violated Illinois law, which requires animal care agencies to make every effort to find owners of lost dogs.

Rosen showed us Animal Control's intake card. On it was the dog's name, Zeus. If the city workers had his name, Rosen argues, surely they saw Moran-West's phone number on the collar.

"She was lied to and told there was no phone number," Rosen said.

"You guys should have a heart and give me back my dog," added Moran-West.

Moran-West is 20 now and wants to be a veterinarian, with hopes of one day reuniting lost dogs with their families.

We reached out to the city's Animal Care and Control agency and Fetching Tails, and had not heard back late Tuesday.