What Happens When Two Different People Try To Claim Lost Dog at Shelter?

By Kayla Kunkel July 26, 2018 at 2:21pm

What happens when two different people try to claim the same lost dog at a shelter? The Denver Animal Shelter is having to make a very difficult decision that will determine the future of one black shepherd.

Jason Senseney had given up hope that his beloved dog, Molly, would ever return home.

So when Avid, a microchip company, called him and said that she had been found across the country, he was surprised but delighted!

“My dog ran away five years ago, you know, we pretty much thought she was dead and gone,” Senseney said. That one phone call changed everything.

Molly was rescued from a hot car by a Good Samaritan before ending up at the Denver Animal Shelter.

He said that she adopted the now 11-year-old dog when she was only 6-weeks-old in St. Louis, Missouri where he still lives. When she was around six, she ran away.

Now, 5 years later, she was found in Colorado. When Senseney first received the phone call, he immediately figured out a way to be in Colorado the following morning.

He was excited to be reunited with his canine companion but soon learned that it wouldn’t be so easy.

Do you think the dog should go to her original owner?

The shelter quickly informed him that somebody else was also claiming ownership of the dog.

“They told me someone else is trying to claim her,” he said. “And I was like, this dog is micro-chipped, that’s the point of the microchip, to show who the owner is. How is this guy trying to claim her?”

Both parties have vet paperwork, which makes the decision even more difficult. The other man said that he found Molly in St. Louis and thought she was just a stray, but never checked for a microchip.

A video shows Molly obviously excited to see Senseney for the first time in five years.

The Animal Law Center, LLC has been retained to help Senseney in the fight to get his dog back.

“They don’t have a policy and procedure in place and therefore there is a lack of due process. That’s a real problem. That’s a constitutional issue,” said Jennifer Edwards of the law firm.

The shelter has yet to make a decision but is working toward getting Molly out of the shelter soon.

“It’s a really challenging situation to be in for everybody,” said Tracy Koss, Customer Care Manager at the shelter.

“It’s very emotional. We’re struggling to make sure that we are being responsible, and again, that we are looking at all the information that we have, not making any rash decision, and taking guidance from our legal team.”

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