A FAMILY is to take legal action against a well-respected animal sanctuary, claiming it sold their missing dog.
Staffordshire bull terrier Sucker disappeared from home in Salford almost six weeks ago.
Owner Kathy Holder contacted Leigh Animal Sanctuary, police and Salford council's dog warden service. She also put up posters in shops and an advert in a newspaper in her search for the 11-year-old black and white dog.
But she now believes Sucker was found the day after he went missing and placed at the Leigh sanctuary - then sold to new owners.
The sanctuary insists proper procedures were followed and the description they were given of Sucker was not accurate.
Kathy, of Gladstone Street, Pendlebury, said she discovered her treasured pet had been taken to the home only after she was contacted by someone who had spotted a woman release a dog from a children's play area in a park.
Collar
She said: "I found that lady, who is a nurse at Hope Hospital, and she told me she had taken him to the police and then Pet Medics, who examine dogs referred by police, before they are placed with a warden service or sanctuary.
"I described Sucker to her and the distinctive collar he was wearing - which had metal paw marks around it.
"She was sure it was Sucker she had found. I then contacted Pet Medics, who said Sucker has been placed at Leigh Animal Sanctuary.
"I contacted the sanctuary and eventually it sent me a letter saying the dog had been sold to new owners, but it refused to give me their address."
'Devastated'
Sucker was bought as a pet for Kathy's eldest daughter Leanne, now 17. "All the family are devastated," said Kathy "I feel I have no alternative but to start legal action.
"The sanctuary is suggesting in the letter that the dog it sold might not be Sucker, but I am positive it was."
Sanctuary manager Linda Clements said they followed the correct procedure from the moment the dog arrived.
"The dog was brought into us via Swinton police station after it was found wandering round a park," said Mrs Clements.
Micro-chip
"It was a dark black and brown castrated male and that did not match the description given to us by Mrs Holder, who told us her dog was a black and white male Staffordshire bull terrier.
"The dog had not been micro-chipped and there was no address on its collar. We then kept the dog for eight days - as is our policy - before putting it up for adoption and it was chosen quickly by a very good home.
"I would always stress the need for anyone who has lost a dog to visit animal sanctuaries daily. And dog owners must get their pets microchipped - it's an easy way to ensure identification."
* DO you know who bought Sucker? Let us know.
Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
losing a dog of that breed is dangerous especially if it was left to roam free. i dont think they have a leg to stand on, and its not as if the sanctuarry did anything wrong they were just trying to find a home for the animal
Why wasn't there an id disc on the dog?
Why wasn't the dog chipped?
Why was it wandering on it's own in a public area?
Doesn't sound like the rescue hasdone anything wrong at all.
I have had a similar experience with Leigh Animal Sanctuary. A few years back I had a cat go missing which looked much younger than it was due to brain damage it had endured. I had taken the cat in from the Cats Proection League. She got of the house and could not find her way back. We looked everywhere for & advertised, even offering rewards. Eventually I got a phone call from a gentleman saying he had took her to the Leigh Cats & Dogs HOme. When I contacted them they said she had been taken in by a young couple and they refused to give me details. That was my cat & my children were devastated to lose her. They need to change their policy. As a result I have never donated anything to their shelter nor would I take in any pets from them for fear they may belong to someone. All my cats now come from either Feline Rescue or Cats Protection League, though in the past taking two cats in from them. I sympathise with this family and support them in their fight.
Listening to a radio programme the other day I heard a Vet say micro chipping is a waste of time and money. So who do we believe?
Animal sanctuaries do an honourable job looking after our abandoned animals. Many of their employees work
voluntarily doing jobs I doubt members of the moneygrabbing Holder family would do even for cash.
Fair enough if the shelter have made a mistake selling this dog but I'm sure there was nothing malicious in it. Such sanctuaries cannot afford court costs so I hope the Holder family will be able to sleep at night knowing, if succesful at court, the money they are rewarded will come straight out of the mouths of hungry and abandoned animals.
If the family were genuinely upset I'm sure going to the papers and talking about court appeareances wouldn't be the first thing they'd think of. If this matter does go to court I hope the papers follow it all the way so we can see what lengths people will go to for a bit of money.
I hope that this family gets their pet back . Pets do go missing from time to time and I think more should be done to trace the rightful owners of found pets before offering them for adoption.
Animal shelters cannot be expected to keep cats and dogs indefinitely - especially if someone comes along and is willing to take them.
I'm sorry you lost your pet - but perhaps you should have made more of an effort - had it chipped or tagged and contacted the shelters daily.
If you want another dog - rescue one of the many abandoneds SBTs at Manchester dogs home and forget about sueing the shelter
The dog obiously wasn't treasured that much if it was wondering round a childrens park was it?
It beggars belief that people take animals then let them roam free, perhaps now it will be better cared for!
It's a shame that in hindsight it's a pity the dog didnt have an identity disc on, this happened to us with a much loved cat, we had to change our phone number due to nuisance calls, so we removed her disc with the old tel. number on it as it would have been a dead line and were in the process of getting a new one made when she went missing. we advertised in all the local shops and pet charity organisations, but there are a lot of sanctuaries in the area, and to have to visit them all, even every few days would have been an impossible task. maybe the new people who have bought the dog from the sancuary may see this newspaper item and get in touch with the family.
They kept the animal for eight days before offering it for adoption. The description was also wrong. The legal action being touted is nonsense and will fail. I am sorry for the family loss but come on, nothing has been done here from malice. Seems like yet another example of not aking responsibility for their own actions (Losing the dog in the first place)and expecting some form of compensation from a charity for the result of their own actions.
If the dog had an ID tag or disc with a contact phone number or address of some sort then this might not have happened.
Why was a dog of this breed wandering around unleashed?
I hope the dog sanctuary dont suffer because of a dog owners inability to look after their animal.
Too many dogs roaming the streets and parks. The dog is now with a family who will hopefully look after it. I've seen so many children in parks terrified by roaming dogs.
At xmas last year we purchased a young cat which on the description said it was 1 1/2 years old and had been castrated. After taking her home, 3 weeks later we discovered she was no older than 6 months and that she had come on heat! I rang linda Clements, I was told to take her back and she would swap my cat for one that had been castrated which I thought was an awful thing to say. She wouldnt contribute to the cost of the operation.
I think the owners of this poor dog should take legal action as the owner needs to be told!!!
Why was the dog left wandering? A dog of this type could kill a child, so if the owners were so irresponsible, then they deserved to lose the dog for good.
Is there a bigger issue here. what lawyer is taking this case. clearly there is nothing to answer. if anything the family should be prosecuted for letting the dog roam (without identification) how much taxpayers money and legal aid is being wasted !!!!!!!!
We lost our dog when we had had him only a few weeks when he escaped through a left open back gate( window cleaner didnt know we had a dog!) I contacted leigh every day for two weeks- he was wearing a really distinctive collar and two visable scars on his legs from surgery when he was a pup. Eventually after going up to leigh every other day they "found" him- or at least thats what we thought till we found out he had been there from day one and was still wearing the same collar!! It still cost us a fortune in fees and adverts and phone calls every day not to mention the heartache it caused my 4 year old son who didnt sleep for the two weeks and yet they had had him all along!
how discraceful i hope she did get rehomed gods knows where though have ya read the papers
some peoples comments on this page are disqusting they did love there dog i do rescue and pets do go missing and lose their collars not all staffs are nasty animals only respond to owners take a walk round leigh and read the papers it needs to be governed properly believe you me
i have heard things like this from other people and in the past and i have experienced something similar. i found a dog and took it there to be checked for a id-chip, it didnt have a chip but i kept hold of the dog and contact the dog warden as soon as i could, leigh sanctuary had said that they hadnt heard of anyone looking for such dog, yet that same weekend i was made aware of an advert in the local paper for the missing dog and it stated if this dog was found to ring a mobile number or leigh sanctuary, i am glad that i didnt leave the dog with them. dog and owner were reunited, this i fear may not of been the case if i had left it at the sanctuary. if feel the place should be inspected thoroughly.
I think that the staff at leigh animal sanctuary are wonderful, they work tirelessly day in day to look after the animals. They never complain about the animals and do their best every day of the year.
People are too quick to criticise.