Hi, asking some advice on behalf of a friend: Her and her mum had two springer spaniels, Mal and Buster, both from the same breeder. Her mum passed away earlier this year and at that point Buster had been staying at the breeders for a while because of her mum's health, but she'd been paying insurance and vets bills and sending food for him (debatably more than was needed for him). Her mum had always intended for Buster to come back eventually, but at the point that the breeder started asking for meat to be sent for him as well and her situation had improved, her mum decided that she was in a position to have him back at home. The breeder was initially happy, but the following day said that she was being accused of not looking after the dog, but they came to an agreement that the dog would be collected. However, when they went to collect him the place was deserted. They then could not contact the breeder and subsequently the food was not sent up. Around four weeks after that my friend's mother passed away. At this point, given the situation, Mal also went to the breeders as my friend wasn't in a position to look after him and had nowhere else to send him. She collected him after a couple of weeks (at which point he had lost vast amounts of weight and only weighed around 8kg) but didn't see Buster and at that point was just concerned with getting Mal out and he is now staying with a wonderful foster family and getting back to healthy weight. The breeder is now claiming that Buster is her dog and my friend is wondering about how to proceed about getting him back. His kennel club certificate is in the name of a family friend who was involved with raising him and we think he is microchipped in her mum's name and address, though this may also be in the name of the family friend. The family friend is happy that Buster is my friend's and that he should be in her care. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of a similar situation or any advice or anything? My friend has an awful lot of other stuff on her plate following her mum's death, but obviously the welfare of her dog is weighing on her mind rather!
You (she) should have a certificate of ownership from the KC. That should be enough. The dog will (should) also be registered. Contact the KC.
I suppose there are two different things here - proving ownership and actually getting the dog back. I would have thought proving ownership is straightforward, presumably your friend can collect various bits of evidence to show her mum owned the dog. In terms of actually recovering the dog though, I should think that's a matter for a court - probably the small claims track, which is easy to use and you don't have to use a solicitor. Although if requests to return the dog have been ignored, trying a solicitor's letter threatening further action might work.
I agree, get the court involved. Always a good idea to get a signed receipt for the dog, and get the registration papers and microchip in your own name.. I hope things work out for your friend at this difficult time.
Feel really sorry for your friend at this sad time but if friendly requests have failed to gain the return of the dog the only recourse is through the courts supported by as much evidence as possible i.e. KC papers, insurance certificate and any claim forms, vet bills together with the vaccination card if possible, food bills anything which helps to show who was paying for the dog in all ways. I hope it is resolved very soon
Thanks for your replies, the things you have said are very much what we were thinking and it's really good to hear that from other people. She's not been able to devote much time to sorting this up til now and I think has also been worried about doing the wrong thing and making the situation worse. Definitely a hard learned lesson and tale of caution in making sure that registration certificates etc. are sorted properly. Of course her and her mum never imagined that this situation would arise, but then who does?! Always worth having things in order just in case.
Oh dear what a dreadful situation for you I'd try a solicitor's letter first and then the courts. I hope it gets resolved shortly. X
