Am I obligated to give up this dog

[eao76]

My jurisdiction is: Ca, USA

In Jan of 09 I personally adopted a dog from a local shelter (signed an adoption contract & paid a fee). The original adoption contract from the shelter stated "this animal is being adopted as my own companion animal and will not be given as a gift, resold, or used as a guard dog". However it does not say I have to return the dog to the shelter if I no longer can keep it. Although I signed that contract I did not intend on keeping the dog. I was only saving her from shelter life. I brought her to my home & had a verbal agreement to foster her while a different dog rescue (that I volunteer with) advertised the dog on their website & tried to find her a permanent home. After a few weeks I thought the dog had found a new home so when I was preparing to transfer the dog I signed a form that stated that "I herby relinquish any & all claim to my dog and surrender it to such & such animal rescue to dispose of as they see fit". However the new home fell through & neither they nor the rescue ever took possession of the dog. She has remained in my home & in my care for the past 3+months. I have paid out of pocket for food, vet bills, & training. The rescue also has paid for some training. I recently informed the rescue that I want to adopt/keep the dog and they have told me no.

Am I legally obligated to give them the dog because I signed the surrender form mentioned above? Again they never took possession of the dog & she has been living with me from the day I adopted her from the shelter.

Additionally I never signed anything stating that I would foster the dog (they do have foster contracts but I was not asked to sign one).

 

[dee_dub]

What's riding on this? At worst, the animal rescue you relinquished the dog to could try to sue you to enforce the surrender form. Considering the dog was yours, and you want to keep it, and the whole raison d'etre of dog rescue organizations is to place unwanted dogs with owners that will care for them, I can't see why they would bother.

 

[eao76]

The reason they told me no is because the rescue's founder & I had a personal conflict and she is just saying no out of spite. She has never even met the dog and has no true interest in the dog. She also told me that she is shutting down her rescue & will transfer the dog to another rescue. I have spent a ton of time & money rehabbing this dog & she has adjusted & is doing well in my home. I don't want to just transfer her to another rescue.

I should add that the original adoption contract from the shelter stated "this animal is being adopted as my own companion animal and will not be given as a gift, resold, or used as a guard dog."

Does this have any weight on the issue? Since in order to give the dog to the rescue I am violating the terms of the original contract.

The bottom line is that I just want to tell the rescue that the dog is legally mine & move on. However I need to make sure that the dog is in fact legally mine.

 

[dee_dub]

The issue of ownership is always a question of competing claims. Who has the best claim to the dog? Arguaby, it's the original shelter from which it was obtained under false pretences. If anything, the fact that you lied to the original shelter to get the dog in the first place means your agreement with them allowing you to have the dog is invalid. If they wanted, I suppose they could try to take the dog back.

But frankly, I don't see that the rescue needs to know that. As between the rescue and you, just don't give them the dog. Did they give you anything for signing the surrender? If not, the surrender is technically a gift. You agreed to it, and now you changed your mind, and you're entitled to do that. Unless they're harmed by this in some way, I can't see why they'd bother trying to enforce the surrender.