SPCA Gives Woman's Dog to Strange Family
By RANDY MCILWAIN
Updated 10:43 AM CST, Wed, Apr 15, 2009
Virginia Miller of Celina is learning that leash laws aren't just about protecting people from domestic pets, they also protect your pet from becoming someone elses.
Earlier this month Miller's two Labs, Shorty and Sampson, were picked up by Collin County Animal Services officers.
Miller admits ignoring leash laws and frequently would allow her dogs to play with neighborhood children on her block. When they didn't return home as normal, Miller panicked and started seaching for them.
"They didn't come home, which is extremely unusual," said Miller. "I called the SPCA and let them know that Shorty and Sampson were missing and that they would take note."
CCAS said both dogs were picked up at the same time, kept for five days and then taken to the SPCA so that they could be adopted by a new family.
Miller said she called the SPCA because her dogs wear SPCA tags and were spayed and neutered at the McKinney SPCA location.
Miller said she found her female labrador retriever, Shorty, renamed Dixie, was set for adoption at the SPCA. Upon telling workers there that Dixie was her dog, Miller said she was told she could adopt her if that is what she wanted to do.
Miller did re-adopt Shorty, her own dog, for a fee of $95.
The male lab, Sampson, according to SPCA spokespersons, had already been adopted by another family. The SPCA does not divulge information about who adopts pets and wouldn't reveal that information to Miller.
"I understand the attachment," Miller said of her dogs new owners. "I would be extremely grateful to have him home."
The SPCA advocates microchipping domestic pets to insure if they're lost and found that they can be returned to their orginal owners.
Miller said microchipping was not an option offered to her at the time she got the puppies as a Christmas gift over a year ago. She thought the SPCA tags would be sufficient and said now the dog she has is simply a reminder of the one she doesn't.
"No one can tell me where my Sampson is, I'm extremely frustrated," said Miller.
First Published: Apr 15, 2009 12:42 AM CST
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