Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/houston-lost-puppy-adopted-to-someone-else/
A family in Houston, TX is devastated after their lost puppy was found and turned into a rescue – only to be adopted out to someone else.
According to Click2Houston, the little maltese poodle named Byron had escaped their owner’s yard on New Year’s Eve in 2019, two years after they got him.
The family was devastated and did everything they could to find their missing dog, including marking him as missing on their microchip app and posting on Nextdoor, Ring, and other local platforms.
Despite his microchip being marked as missing, the family was never notified when Byron was found. Instead, the rescue that found him adopted him to another family and wiped his microchip clean!
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As time passed, Brianna and Savannah Marino held out hope for finding Byron since he was microchipped. If a microchipped dog is ever turned into a veterinarian or shelter, they’re supposed to be scanned and their owner alerted, so they were hopeful they would get that call someday.
However, one day they logged in to Byron’s microchip account to check on it and it was no longer attached to them. They thought it had to be a mistake that his microchip was showing registered to someone else, so they dug into it further and discovered the heartbreaking truth.
According to a post shared by his family, Byron was taken in by Poodle Rescue of Houston and wrongly sold to a new family.
As a rescue, they can make microchip transfers without contacting the previous owners or proving consent since they’re a “trusted partner” of the microchip company.
They said, “To our dismay, the Poodle Rescue of Houston confirmed they sold him to someone else way back in February 2020! As restitution, they begged us to take their offer of a ‘new puppy’ in return.”
After pressing them further, the rescue reportedly told them that the new family was not willing to give Byron back and there was nothing they could do.
The Marino’s are now hoping that Byron’s new family will have the heart to return him to his rightful owners. Savannah said to Click2Houston, “It’s our family member and we had him for longer. We’re hoping that the new family can find it in their hearts to give Byron back to us.”
In the state of Texas, dogs are viewed as property, so the rescue technically “stole” Byron by not contacting his previous owners and sold him for profit. Byron’s family has started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees, as they plan to take the matter to court if the new family does not give Byron up willingly.
You can follow their Facebook page, Bring Byron Home, to keep up with the latest updates on the situation. Hopefully Byron can make his way home!
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog
