My "friend" asked me to keep her dog while she stayed with her son for a few weeks to get back on her feet. This was the first weekend in March. She has had very little contact with Sam - he's the Yorkie - since then. She was going on a trip to her sons in the spring and I asked if she would be taking Sam and she said no, she didn't want to be bothered with him. She has taken him on two trips to her mother's, bought one bag of food and a package of heart guard. Everything else, I have provided for Sammy and I consider him a part of my family. He travels with me, I schedule my activities around him, he sleeps on the pillow next to me, gives kisses for belly rubs, we play almost every evening, I love and care for him. He has full run of the house when I am gone, including an enclosed porch where he can bark at the squirrels all day or lay in the sun. We take walks almost every day, and everyone in the neighborhood knows him and says hi and gives him a little attention when they see him. He is a very happy little man and I love having him here.
I haven't heard from my "friend" in months and out of the blue she sends an email and wants to take Sammy on a trip because there was a death in the family and her mother wants to see him.
I don't want her to take him. I am afraid she may leave him there and I won't get him back. She used to have a key to my home, but I had the locks changed since then, which she is unaware of and she wants to come "before noon" knowing I will be at work. This will be a huge inconvenience to me. I emailed her back and told her it would have to be before I go to work or after, but I want to know if I have any legal rights to ownership of Sammy. Can I tell her no.
Our friendship is already on the skids, and I know this would probably end it, which I don't really want to do, but for Sammy's sake, I would. He can't speak up or defend himself, nor can he say what he would prefer, but I know that in my home he is loved and treated like family, not a possession.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond. I would hate to see him go back to a home where he is left in a cage during the day, doesn't get to give kisses, doesn't get played with and is left to sleep in a bed on the floor.
I haven't heard from my "friend" in months and out of the blue she sends an email and wants to take Sammy on a trip because there was a death in the family and her mother wants to see him.
I don't want her to take him. I am afraid she may leave him there and I won't get him back. She used to have a key to my home, but I had the locks changed since then, which she is unaware of and she wants to come "before noon" knowing I will be at work. This will be a huge inconvenience to me. I emailed her back and told her it would have to be before I go to work or after, but I want to know if I have any legal rights to ownership of Sammy. Can I tell her no.
Our friendship is already on the skids, and I know this would probably end it, which I don't really want to do, but for Sammy's sake, I would. He can't speak up or defend himself, nor can he say what he would prefer, but I know that in my home he is loved and treated like family, not a possession.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond. I would hate to see him go back to a home where he is left in a cage during the day, doesn't get to give kisses, doesn't get played with and is left to sleep in a bed on the floor.
