Posted on 07/02/2011 9:49:45 PM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
In a nutshell:
Back in May, a friend of my daughter agreed to dog-sit our 1.5 year old sweet dog while we traveled to NJ to visit my father (who has metastatic cancer and heart ailments/surgical defibrillator). For weeks prior to our trip, we were reassured this family would not be traveling over the 4th of July holiday, and that the dog-sitting was still on.
Our trip was to commence on or around the 24th of June; we fly standby non-revenue. In the 48 or so hours prior, we were informed that due to a conflict in their schedule, the family of the dog-sitter wanted us to drop off our dog early on Thursday am. (even though our plans changed to a Saturday departure.). We offered different drop-off times -- even days to work with their schedule, but they were insistent for some reason.
The sitter's mom ultimately came on the phone to explain she was heading out for the weekend -- to visit her mother and family 90 minutes away, but that they were going to take good care of our dog...she'd be with their dogs...I tried to be understanding, but of course I was crushed to see our baby off sooner than we needed. We were told they'd return home on Sunday, the 26th. Our dog has never traveled, so we felt horrible for allowing this. But since this family watched our dog last year, we felt like we could trust their word.
During our trip, we rec'd usually a text message every day from the ds (dog-sitter). Only dog-lovers & owners who understand the special bond between canine and human will truly understand.
Ffw to yesterday. We notified the sitter that we were coming home on Sat (today) and we continued to keep her updated. Upon arrival in Dallas, we didn't hear anything until two or three hours after landing. The father called us, telling us they were in another state - in the north/northeastern U.S.
Huh?
According to the dad, his wife's mother had suddenly fallen ill, and so as to not worry us, they took our dog to Ohio without notifying us. My husband would have flown back to TX had we known of their situation. Flabbergasted, scared, intimidated and shocked, I offered sincere condolences about his m-i-l...I can truly relate given my own father's poor health - and asked the obvious question -- when would we get to see our dog/when would they be back home... I was told, "I don't know. Some time next week."
But now wait -- I thought that her mother lived 90 miles away?
After hanging up the phone, my husband and daughter stared at me, wondering what was going on. Fortunately, a clearer head prevailed and my husband decided he would fly tomorrow to wherever the family was, so he could retrieve our dog. The dog-sitter's father adamantly opposed - and told my husband that their location was none of our business - that our dog was being loved on, and that they'd be home next week.
Have any of you ever heard of anything like this happening?
Add an innocent 12yo dd with Asperger's to the picture who needs her dog back. We just can't believe we weren't told at any point, the truth about our dog's location. And we would be happy to go and get her, but the family is refusing to tell us where they are.
So now what?
Thanks guys.
I was just thinking. Ohio. Cedar Point? They had this trip planned earlier, hence the Thursday drop off. I think they just wanted their daughter to make $300 while on vacation.
Red flags should have went up when they called and wanted to pick up the dog early. At that point you should have said “Never mind” and the girl wouldn’t have made any money after all. You didn’t change the plan, they did. As it turned out, you voluntarily took the dog to them.
Now, we know where you went wrong. Simple mistakes in trust. Now you have every right to know where they’ve taken the dog and you have every right to go get it. Get the local sheriff involved and have his office contact them, or have an attorney contact them and advise them of the legal ramifications of not returning your dog. If something bad has happened I’d want to know about it sooner rather than later.
Good luck and I’ll say a prayer. My dogs are my “kids”. They don’t drive so the insurance doesn’t go up when they reach a certain age. I don’t worry about them getting some girl pregnant because I had them fixed. And obama can’t make me buy them insurance.
Well, if you trusted them enough to babysit your baby then they may have made the best of it and done you right by taking the dog with them so it wouldn’t be left alone.
Stay in contact with them and I am sure it will work out fine.
Yes.
They told you in advance that they were going out of town and taking the dog with them. You still allowed them to watch your dog. They didn't go into your house and steal your dog. YOU let them take your dog out of town. Like it or not, you did. And yeah, things happen that change plans and they won't be back as soon as they thought, but, you let them take your dog with them. That is a fact.
I’d probably feel like you do but while reading this I’m thinking they probably still took your dog because it was an important, personal reason for you all to go to NJ and they probably didn’t want to let you down. Especially last minute. For whatever their reason is for wherever they went.
Should they have called and asked your permission? Yes. But they didn’t.
Try and contain yourself till Zoe comes home. You have to walk a fine line at this point or you, and your daughter, will lose them as people you trusted enough to take your dog.
My wife and I had two dogs for years. A lot of places we just didn’t go when they got older and a kennel was no longer an option. When they ended-up dying within a year of each other (13 and 14yo) we decided NO MORE DOGS!! Well, no more pets in general, so we could start doing things without worrying about who and where we would put our dogs if we wanted to go somewhere.
That was 5 years and 4 dogs ago. I guess someone was trying to tell me that having dogs around the house for 50 weeks a year is better for us than going somewhere without them for two :)
The important thing for you now is to be patient. Unfortunately, due to your agreeing to several of their ad-hoc alterations of plans, you've made yourself complicit and/or partially culpable.
Please tell us how the story plays out!
Regards,
That is In-law flaky right there. :)
I would be hard pressed to deal with this very well.
In either case, try to be strong and reassuring for your child right now. Seeing you upset and scared will make them doubly so.
God bless!
Well, if something wrong is going on, delay is your enemy. Being told that their location was none of your business would have been the last straw for me. Call the police, charge them with theft, move immediately to retrieve your dog, etc. As I said, delay is your enemy.
Amen...done that many time with my local vet...while the dog was sad, no other difficulties were ever noted.
I would worry about involving the police because, when the man was already pretty rude — about it being none of your business where they are — he might get even meaner if you bring in police. He has your dog. He can always say she ran away, or he lost her, and reimburse you for the value of a spayed female.
Not saying you shouldn’t call police, but that would worry me is all.
Some police departments would also make things worse. Do an initial inquiry, just enough to irritate the guy, and then they’d say there’s nothing they can do, you gave the guy the dog, it’s a civil dispute.
What I personally would do, I wouldn’t advise in print.
You mention your daughter is Asperger’s. Is the sitter girl as well? Her father or both parents? The whole interaction sounds so lacking in empathy for people, blunt and inappropriate.
They have your dog, and changing that circumstance seems not to be within your control at present. Play nice as far as they’re concerned. Objective is to get her back. Quietly find out where they are. It sounds as if you’ve been lied to already. There’s no good reason for lying but plenty of bad ones.
Good luck and keep a lid on it until you get her back. Then, let loose with whatever. Bringing police into the matter rarely helps the immediate situation and almost always aggravates it, so if you can leave them out until you have the dog back I’d certainly do so.
I think there is a simple communication breakdown, somewhere...could it be that they didn’t want to burden you with picking up the dog early, because you are visiting your sick father? Keep us all posted.
Is your judgement THAT BAD that these folks you think now are lying All of a sudden?
You need to take some responsibility in this. You are not a Victim. You made choices. If your discernment is that bad, it’s YOUR responsibility!
As others have said...If they are dog people, your dog is being taken care of. You need to trust God on this one.
The more you play victim the more you will flounder.
Man Up Get your dog back and find other ways to have the dog cared for next time.
Try thinking about other people’s sorrow.
Take time and Pray God give me the wisdom to ACCEPT the things I CANNOT CHANGE, The Courage to change the things I can ( ME)
And the Wisdom to know the Difference!!
Good morning guys.
:(
Thank you for the prayer.
They told us they would be back on Sunday. Three days at most. And their destination was 90 minutes away.
I hear you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.