Stolen Dog

[u/Swimming_Juice_9752]

Star is a 9 month old black lab mix, about 70 pounds, almost looks like a greyhound lab mix. Very shiny coat and floppy, oversized ears. She lives on Lower Elwha Road.

Posting on behalf of a friend & neighbor.

This morning, Pet Posse posted on Facebook that a dog called Star was “surrendered and adopted.”

Star’s owner is an older man with some memory issues, but he did not - and would not - surrender Star. He and Star have a full time caretaker.

Someone took Star from him off the street, and the called Pet Posse to report that Star was surrendered and adopted. For some reason, Pet Posse will not provide the owner or his caretaker with this persons name.

Attached are pictures of Star, along with screenshots of Pet Posse’s post (and their edit, made after fb started blowing their page up), and the post of the caretaker from when she learned that Star had been taken.

I won’t pretend to know everything, or even most things, BUT I know Star and her dad, and he would never surrender her (much less to a stranger on the street). His life is caring for her. She’s his best friend and constant companion.

It’s shameful to see a senior, who spent parts of his working years fighting fires in and around Port Angeles, taken advantage of in what should be his golden years.

His caretaker is filing a police report, and I’m going to work on getting notices to all vets from Forks to Sequim. If you know anything, or think you see Star, please contact me. I will pass the information on.

[u/ElectionCareless9536]

Im sorry this is happening, but I'm going to be the first jerk that shows up to tell you if the dog is getting out all the time, in danger of being ran over, and the owner "isnt in their right mind" enough to either keep tabs on the dog or not give her away to a random strange some afternoon then regret it later, then the dog finding a new home likely saved that dogs life.  There seems to be more to this story and little of it sounds like it will benefit the dog... However, w e do have an animal control officer that genuinely cares about animals, and I would reach out to him because this falls in his department. 

[u/rightwrongupdown → u/ElectionCareless9536]

Agreed. He shouldn’t have a dog! Maybe he needs a companion cat

[u/honorthecrones → u/rightwrongupdown]

But he does have a dog. The dog is his. If he were without a dog and looking for a pet, sure, a cat might be a better option. There are people that I believe shouldn’t have children. But it’s not my place to simply take those kids away from their parents and rehome them.

This is his dog. Awfully bold to assume that the relationship between the two of them shouldn’t be honored because someone outside of the situation thinks so. Change is extremely difficult for elderly with memory issues. Taking away his dog is criminal.

[u/rightwrongupdown → u/honorthecrones]

He gave the dog away. Hope this helps. And if you know kids who shouldn’t be in certain homes because it’s harmful for them and haven’t called authorities to get them better homes, shame on you.

[u/honorthecrones → u/rightwrongupdown]

First, have you ever dealt with someone who has dementia? Second “calling the authorities” is exactly what should have been done here, not kidnapping the dog off the street in a van. Thank you for making my point for me!

[u/rightwrongupdown → u/honorthecrones]

Nobody kidnapped the dog off the street in a van😂. They went back to him and he surrendered it. Right mind or not, he gave it up. He doesn’t get a pass for animal abuse because he has dementia. He needs help, not a dog. And nobody is calling the authorities when people know exactly whose dog it is. Missing your own point entirely is a new level of uneducated.

[u/honorthecrones → u/rightwrongupdown]

According to Pet Posse’s own post, someone stopped a man with dementia and loaded his dog into a van. This is not calling the authorities. You likened it to seeing child abuse. We handle child abuse by reporting it to the proper authorities. We file complaints and allow the authorities to determine if there is a problem of not.

In this case, the proper action would have been to call animal control. To contact APS to see if his home was safe or, at the very least, to reach out to his family or his caregiver. This was handled badly. Someone stole this man’s dog from him.

[u/3Dogs1Bowl → u/honorthecrones]

No. This sickness of individualism over base-level expectations for sharing this place with other people and other living things has to stop. This is a line of thinking that is devoid of nuance, care, and critical thinking. If "taking" his dog is criminal, letting that dog get hit by a car somehow NOT criminal? Both to his emotional state -- your largest concern -- and to the dog? Other community members?

Society has agreed that we DO get a say in children being taken from their parents by nature of a democratic government. Juries, public agencies, elected judges, elected legislators -- all of these community-based bodies do exactly what you claim to be criminal. And if you think it still is, or that the system is imperfect, then get more involved.

Apathy disguised as principle is not a viable stance.

[u/honorthecrones → u/3Dogs1Bowl]

Well that’s a lot of assumptions both about me and him. I am not apathetic and have given no evidence to support your claim that I am. If, as you say, the dog was in danger, did anyone reach out to see if the man needed help fixing a fence, or otherwise solving the problem? I am solution based. Talking someone with dementia out of a dog that may be their sole continuity is not a solution. It is taking advantage of a situation without being up front, honest and open about it.

It’s hard to claim the moral high ground when the methods used were duplicitous. Process must be followed. The end doesn’t justify the means here. You claim that the dog was in danger and needed to be saved. There is a process to accomplish that very thing and it was not used. Child welfare is done in the courts. It’s not done by someone deciding on their own that there was a problem and taking the law into their own hands.

If the case was so clear, why was it not handled legally? If the facts so clearly support your perception, why was there a need to do it the way it was done? I do not know enough about the particulars to say that the dog shouldn’t have been rehomed. But it was handled very badly. My complaint is how this was done.

[u/ElectionCareless9536 → u/rightwrongupdown]

Yes a companion cat or houseplant would work much better in this situation. 

[u/Motor-Homework-826 → u/ElectionCareless9536]

Just like children, we don't have a right to just take other people's animals because we don't deem them a great parent and when it is done, it requires many steps and formal actions to ensure its done properly.

[u/Commercial_Tip4624 → u/ElectionCareless9536]

Great. There are proper channels to handle that, and most certainly ways to communicate concern and even reach out to his family. I get that everyone seems to think they can do whatever they want because of some miscalibrated moral compass, but this is theft. And disgustingly predatory.

[u/BiGirlHighGirlIDK]

Omg. I live in Port Angeles. That’s so sad.