Sooo, because the previous owner of little lost doggi can't be contacted, I'm supposed leave this 7 month old puppy in the local SPA (a hellhole with no shelter, not enough food, no toys and only concrete) until they have done their research - no time limit given - to establish if the owner is contactable or not. Only once they have given the nod can I legitimately keep her - according to the guy on the other end of the national helpline for lost dogs.
I say NO. She might die in the meantime!! I'm writing to the owner per recorded delivery - and how many people would go to those lengths - and if no response, then she's staying with me as very my own illegal alien!
Has anybody had a similar experience? What did you do?
Thank you for your reply Sholu. I would be very interested to hear about anything you can find out.
It seems to me that you have a new little dog. Well done you for rescuing her and giving her a much better life.
Kindest regards, June.
A quick update - It seems that the national canine society is the official organisation that can put up a dog for adoption if the owner has not responded to their letter within 10 days (this after several other letters have already been sent by other parties). I emailed them on Sunday - not easy to find on the web as the French love their abbreviations - and received a response on Monday! So keep fingers crossed.
website; www.scc.asso.fr
email fnc.consultation@centrale-canine.fr (for dogs lost/found)
Hi June,
June,
Thank you for your comments and your good wishes. I didn't know that the chipping of animals here is almost meaningless - I'm glad your community is doing something about it, but it should be done on a national basis, I agree.
I shall now compose a very badly-written letter to the national canine society and let you know what happens. That way, at least 3 of us will know what the procedure is for having registration details changed in France!!
Have a good weekend, Sholu
Hello again Sholu, I have now read your post. It seems that you are now able to, at least, foster Poppy. All I can say is well done to you. People such as you are compassionate and responsible. I hope you get to keep her in her "forever" home. Good luck & best wishes.
I have not read the other posts in reply to you yet and so, I apologise, if I am repeating something. You say you are writing to the owner which, obviously, means you know who they are and where they live. I presume you have told the SPA, Mairie etc. this information. If this is the case, why are they not in contact with the "owners". For your information I live in Tinchebray, 61800. We had a recent communication in the Commune Newsletter that, in future, the costs for euthanasia and vet boarding prior to that, will be charged to the registered "owner" of the animal. It was beyond my belief that "owners" could abandon their dogs/cats etc., have them held at the vets or the pound and then euthanised without any cost or responsibility put on them. Unbelievable. At least my Town has woken up and is attempting to do something but really...........too little, too late. We need a clear law about all of this. If there is one, I cannot find out what it is from any person or authority and believe me I have tried. We also need EDUCATION about animals here in France (but it's not only France - UK from what I read are just as bad).
Hi Suzie,
just got back from the SPA in Tarbes as we were told that they would handle the situation, but alas, we were misinformed. I was pretty depressed when I saw it - I thought I was back in Bangladesh (were we taught and lived for 2 years) The sights, the sounds, the smells! and one lonely lady struggling! All the dogs get to eat is stale bread and they are locked into corrugated iron huts! Horrid that this exists in a developed, well-off country.
Since the owner has made no effort to reply to our letters etc over the past 2 weeks (we know from telephoning the mairie and gendarmerie that she is an 18 year old girl working in Toulouse who likely took on more than she can handle with a jack russell puppy), we are now told to contact the canine society and report 'a found dog'. Apparently the vet should have done this when we went to him to see if she was chipped - and she is- , but since there was no profit in it, he couldn't be bothered. So the saga continues, the lady in the SPA was quite bewildered why we want to go through all this "Can't you keep the dog just like this?" she asked. mmmm, different attitudes I guess.
In the meantime Poppy the dog is doing well. She had an eye infection and what looks like a tear in the corner of her eye, which is healing well. She is learning English commands like sit and come, and she is giving Timmy, our other dog, a run for his money! Training her now not to chase our cats - this one might take a little longer!
Hi Sholu,Any news?Maybe something has happened to the owner?Hospitalized or worse.Just an idea but if you have the address of the owner maybe you could try asking the neighbours....
Thanks for that, Suzie. In the meantime I have written to the maire of the town which has the last known address of puppy owner and asked them to help me contact her, but if I get no response I will speak to the SPA. The strange thing is that the dog has a chip, but the owner has not reported her as missing (there would be an entry on the database), has not responded to a lost dog ad on bon coin or to a letter sent her, has no listed telephone number ( i have checked the white pages) or any other way of contacting her. So I'm not sure what else the SPA can do. I will contact Lynn, as well.
Good to hear your hubby changed his mind about the kitties - bet he is having lots of fun with them now! My husband was the same and we now have 3 cats and a dog - and possibly a second one ....
Hi Sholu,You need to ask Lynn Stone about this.She has a rescue centre for cats but I presume that the legal formalities for stray cats and dogs are similar.Several years ago I found some abandoned kittens.I took them in and then contacted the local cat rescue centre.At first hubby was completely against the idea of us keeping them They asked me to keep them until they were rehomed.One of them was rapidly adopted and then by that time hubby had changed his mind.So we adopted them.I was delighted!!It was the local cat centre who dealt with the forms etc for registering them.The SPA are full of abandoned animals so I'm sure if you offer to keep him while waiting for an answer from the owner they won't object.Good Luck and well done for helping this little pup