Need Help Bad!!!

[petlover]

Hey guys. I am part of the SSC ( Saving Strays Club) and we found three puppies in a shopping cart in the grocery store parking lot. They are so sweet and precious. They are about 7 weeks old. Barely old enough to be away from their mother. We are fostering them, and putting up posters around town. Four people have called claiming that they ARE the puppies' owner. I don't know what to do. Three people have to be lying. I can't just give the puppies' to someone and hope that I did the right thing. All of them were guys and they sounded like big guys. The puppies look like pit bull/bulldog mix. Someone must want to use them for fighting. I just can't let them go to anyone like that. I just don't know what to do. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

[lv4dogs]

I posted this answer in dog health as well but here it is again. For future references please only post it in one area & I thing this fits better under dog general than health.

Hopefully you did not post pics or descriptions of them on the posters as that is a big no no for finding owners for lost pets. Otherwise anybody & their brother could claim the dog as they know everything about it already.

It makes it really easy to do if you did not do that, just have the owner describe what they look like, how old they are, the sex of the pups. If the pups are old enough to know a name ask for the names & see if the pups respond to the name.
Ask where they may have gooten loose at, & is it anywhere near where you found them or where they were spotted at?
Ask what the pups favorite toy or treat is, ask what commands the pup know. If the pups are pretty young ask if the owner has the parent(s) to the pups & what breed it is. Ask what they planned on doing w/ the pups (are they keeping them.. finding homes for them etc..)
It should be pretty obvious after that.
If nothing else works just explain to each one your dilema that 4 people have claimed them & you know that the pups can not be from 4 diferent owners. You need to re-search to make sure the pups go to their real home. Any good pet owner will understand.

Any pics??
they sound like cuties!

[Linda York]

You definetly have your hands full. BUT.. what if you ask these people who say that the babies are theirs, to bring the Mama dog with them. If these babies are as little as you say... they (the owners) should have the Mama dog. And she would know her pups. Ask the questions:
Why would they have left them in a shopping cart??!!
Where's the Mama dog?
What are they doing with three puppies??
Good luck to you. I wouldn't just hand them over to just anyone. I say finders keepers, and you can find GOOD homes for them. I wouldn't really want to give them over to people who left them in the first place. You have a hard job to do. Hang in there. I know you will do what's best. My thoughts are with you.

[stacwase]

I agree with Linda. A good owner wouldn't have left them there in a shopping cart in the first place! I don't think their owners will be looking for them.

edit: of course there is a possibility that they were stolen and then dumped in a cart by the thief who was afraid of being caught.

[micki76]

Originally posted by aly
I promise I'm not an internet weirdo - I just work heavily in rescue and live in Texas also.[/email]

Well... that's a matter of opinion!

I personally wouldn't give the pups back to anyone who's claiming to be the owners. Why? Because they're most likely not and because if they are the owners, they're not fit to be.

Aly's in south central TX and I'm in north central TX, so if you need any help, just let either of us know.

[Linda York]

Footnote: A Mama Dog always knows her babies. If the people say they don't have the mother dog.... ask them where they got the babies and from who.
Maybe it could be verified that way. But again (as several people have stated) who would leave them in the first place. It is very suspicious that 4 people say that they belong to them.
Maybe these babies would have a better chance in life if good homes can be found for them by people like you,,, rather than by people who would lose or leave them. I just know that if I had ONE baby puppy, let alone THREE, it would never leave my sight, I would know where it was. And it wouldn't be in some shopping cart. Sounds like maybe they were trying to give them away (with no luck) and didn't want to take them back home so they left them. Please keep us posted. Thanks.
Good luck to you.

[tomkatzid]

You are getting good advice here, just want to say that I would let aly help here, let the owners go through her no kill shelter network on this, if they want them bad enough they will do what is necessary to get them back. I agree the whole thing sounds very suspicious, how did they get in that cart? Like when we recently found lucee whoever left her in those woods did not deserve to get her back. If you refer these supposed owners to her shelter I bet she will never hear from them......tom

[tomkatzid]

I have never read anything about what happened with these puppies, how about an update?........tom

[Linda York]

Hi petlover, I too wondered what happen with the little baby puppies you found. How about an update? Thanks.

[petlover]

I still have the puppies. I did think on it hard about what was best for them. I am not going to give them to anyone that claims to be their owner. My aunt works at a ASPCA place in Dallas. She and her crew go and check out the house and the animals that the people have before they let someone adopt a cat or dog. They also interview and go and check up on them. I decided to just let her take them. I know that people that are on Pet Talk would find them just as good of homes, but my aunt is coming for a visit in two weeks, so she will take them then.

[PJ's Mom]

Originally posted by micki76
Well... that's a matter of opinion!

You beat me to it.

[petlover]

P.S. There are 2 girls and 1 boy. I named one girl fiesta.( Since she is a little party animal) I named the other little girl Pepi. I had to think hard on what to name the boy. We had to drawl names out of a hat to pick his name. We decided that it would be Wrangler. I don't know why. I just thought it was a cute and and out it in the hat to drawl. It won!!!!

[aly]

The SPCA in Dallas has no affiliation with the ASPCA. They also don't do home visits, but they are still an ok shelter. So good luck to the puppies!

[delidog]

Please Listen to Aly!!!

She Knows Texas!!

She Knows Best!!!!