<p>Just to clarify - my breeder claimed that chips cause problems in lab rats - I made no effort to validate that claim - simply repeated it here as one example of a breeder who would not have chipped their dogs.</p>
<p>OOOh, interesting dilemna. Having grown up with showdogs that had a litter or 2, but having also, as an adult, adopted a rescue dog (and having seen the awful conditions of puppy mills) I would contact the local Pit Bull Rescue folks and turn the dog over to them. Rescue groups have the dogs best interest at heart. The person on Craigslist may be the rightful owner, and if it is a reputable breeder and this is a simple case of the dog getting loose, I would expect that the rescue folks would return the dog to the owner pretty promptly, especially if you have already had the dog checked out by a vet, and additionally if the dog was nursing a healthy litter of puppies.</p>
<p>If the owner runs a puppy mill, I suspect the rescue folks will handle the situation differently, since they are pretty militant about puppy mills. Either way, you have looked out for the best interests of the dog. For me, the decision would be whether to contact the person on Craigslist and tell them to contact the Pittbull rescue folks where you have taken the dog, or whether to alert the rescue folks to the Craigslist ad and let them contact the possible owner. The latter lets you stay out of it, and lets the decision about the best interest of the dog be left in the hands of the rescue group.</p>
<p>jym, how do you know the pit bull rescue group has the dog’s best interest at heart any more than you or the rightful owner do? That looks like passing the buck to me – let them make any decision regarding the dog. I would certainly contact the authorities if I returned the dog to her owner and thought there was something wrong going on, but it’s stated in the OP that the dog looks well-cared for and healthy and acts appropriately socialized.</p>
<p>If the owner of the dog knows that the rescue folks have the dog, and knows that you turned the dog over to the rescue folks even though you knew how the owner could be contacted, the owner may be within his/her rights to take action against you and/or the rescue folks if the dog is not returned, but this is speculation on my part as I’m not an attorney nor do I play one on TV.</p>
<p>yes I did change my mind after I thought about it more- re the vets impression- wouldn’t be the vet that had been caring for the dog- so might have had his own agenda in that opinion, plus, a big medical procedure like that- which isn’t for emergency care- could have serious consequences.
( Look what happened to Cutthroat B****)</p>
<p>I’m with younghoss. Whatever one’s thoughts on whether or not dogs ought to be spayed (and personally, I think all dogs should be spayed), if a person knows (or is quite sure) who the owner is, it is unethical to spay the dog. Period. Dogs are both property and living creatures; as it is known that the dog is someone’s (a specific someone’s) property, it is unethical to alter it without at least seeking permission, and as a living creature which has a person responsible for it (its owner) it is unethical to take action without deferring to that person.</p>
<p>I see absolutely no ambiguity here.</p>
<p>owlice,
Have you had the opportunity to have experience with rescue groups? That (the care and rescue of breeds) is their focus. I have friends involved in many different breed rescue groups, and as I mentioned, I got a dog through a breed rescue group. The screening that one goes through in order for them to determine if a home is suitable for a dog is much like going through a human adoption. And the work they do, putting in many volunteer hours and spending much of their personal hard earned money for the betterment of the dogs is truly heart warming. They genuinely do have the dogs best interests at heart. It isnt pasing the buck. If the owner is a good pet owner, there should be no problem. If the owner is a creepy or illegal puppy mill, that might be another story.</p>
<p>On chips and cancer: two dogs are known to have developed a cancer at the chip site. Four million dogs are known to have been chipped. </p>
<p>[Do</a> microchips cause cancer? » Vet Blog](<a href=“9 Things You Should Never Do to Your Dog: An Important Care Guide – Dogster”>9 Things You Should Never Do to Your Dog: An Important Care Guide – Dogster)</p>
<p>I think a dog is at much greater risk from being lost than from being chipped.</p>
<p>My dogs are chipped.</p>
<p>No proof the suspicions are warranted. In this situation all you have is a sweet, healthy, seemingly well cared for dog, and an apparently concerned owner that has put an ad in Craig’s List searching for the dog. I would not feel it remotely ethical or appropriate to spay a dog in this situation. The issue of no tags is irrelevant, here since you already know who the owner is. I often take my dog’s collar off in the house and put it on when he goes outside - I’m not concerned in our case that it’s an issue. But it’s very possible that in a more hectic household a dog could get out accidentally through no fault of the owner and without its tags - an open door, a careless contractor (what happened to President Clinton’s dog, Buddy) etc.</p>
<p>I volunteer at our local no kill Humane Society almost every Saturday. I started this when D left for college in the fall of 2006. Unfortunately no one can just “drop off” an animal, although people have been known to tie dogs to the front door or put a box of puppies/kittens at the front entrance after hours. The shelter is full to the brim. </p>
<p>Many of the long term resident dogs are, unfortunately, pitbulls. There isn’t one shelter that needs more of these. (Least adoptable dogs - pits and any large black dog, least adoptable cats - black and tortie.) All resident animals are spayed/neutered and by state law can NOT leave the shelter until the surgery has been performed. I’ve actually had people get angry with me over this policy!</p>
<p><em>Responsible</em> breeders/showpersons/handlers/trainers, etc. make sure their dogs are easy to identify. My sis-in-law’s show dogs are tattooed (as are all animals at our Humane Society.)</p>
<p>I was thinking more about this thread last night, so I did a little research. I looked at some craigslist lost and found ads, and the ads range from very compelling, heart rendering pleas for return of a dear, beloved much-missed lost pet, complete with photos and suggestions of what the dogs food preferences are, multiple ways to contact the owner and offer of a reward, to very brief general descriptions of a dogs markings, location of where they were lost and phone # to call. To me, the difference in the ads was pretty poignant. I also looked up animal rights and found this newspaper article [Rights</a>, legal status of dogs, cats, other pets growing | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Pets | Dallas Morning News](<a href=“http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/pets/stories/032608dnlivpetlaws.2d45ca6.html]Rights”>http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/pets/stories/032608dnlivpetlaws.2d45ca6.html) Apparently animal law is a new and burgeoning field within law, and almost 1/2 half of ABA-approved law schools teach a course on animal law. Much of it seem to surround “custody” fights and inheritance issues (really!) but safety and abuse is also an important aspect of animal law.</p>
<p>EK- can you share a little more about the craigslist ad? Was it one of those heart-rendering pleas or a brief curt description and phone #? This would be helpful to know. Truth be told, if I was in that situation (found the dog), especially if the ad looked genuine and sincere, and the dog seemed sweet, healthy, appropriately socialized and likely to be someone’s pet and not an abused puppy mill mom, I would probably call the person on craigslist to see if they could prove ownership of the dog. You can say you think you may have found a dog that has a similar description, and gather more information from the “owner”. If the situation was reversed and I had a dog that had gotten loose, I’d probably be pretty thrilled that someone found her, and pretty steamed if someone decided to spay my dog without my permission. That said, if the “finder” happened to be the local dog-catcher, it would probably not be a choice the local authorities would offer-- ie they might require neutering before returning the dog. </p>
<p>My one “issue” is puppy mills and abuse of dogs in mill or “backyard breeder” situations. While it is more likely than not that if this was a puppy mill dog is would not have seemed so well groomed and cared for, and the vet might have found other health problems, it might still be prudent to check in with the rescue groups. The folks active in local breed rescue are often familiar with who owns/runs puppy mills or who are “bad” (for lack of a better word) home breeders with a reputation for bad breeding in their area, and they might also have some helpful suggestions to ask before returning a dog. For example, with respect to the breed of dog that I rescued (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) there are some very dangerous health issues that responsible breeders try to avoid or breed out. I dont mean to go off onto a tangent about that, just that I fully support responsible breeders, and am a little less supportive of backyard breeders who dont follow their AKC breed guidelines and are just breeding cavalierly (no pun intended) to sell pups and make a buck. Irresponsible breeders often have puppies that get sick or have genetic health problems, and many puppies then get dumped or turned over to rescue groups for placement, so the rescue groups can be familiar with who sells puppies that have a high frequency of problems. While these genetic problems cannot be entirely avoided, responsible breeders do their best to avoid inbreeding (breeding to related dogs) and to work to get rid of (breed out) the genetic issues that are inherent in many purebred breeds.</p>
<p>Hopefully your dog’s owner is a responsible, upstanding dog owner, but I can understand the desire to gather a little more information so that your friend can make a decision that least considers the safety of the dog in the equation. Rushing to spay the dog would be a bit extreme.</p>
<p>One side note-- while reading the craigslist ads, I read a few warnings of scammers who call people falsely claiming to have found their dog, and then claim they need money to send to some sick relative overseas, and ask for $$ in advance. Its a pretty transparent scam, but it is scummy to prey on the sympathies of heartbroken pet owners desperate to get their pet back.</p>
<p>Im sorry I can’t help more- I didn’t see the craigslist ad- I copied the post from dammPortlanders 
I’ll go back and see what happened.
When I read it- virtually all the advice was to give the dog back intact.</p>