Days after mistakenly adopting the dog of a Battle Ground firefighter, a family returned it to a local shelter so it can be reunited with its owner.
William Jones left his black lab mix Hunter with a friend in Vancouver while he went to fight fires Eastern Washington in early August. While he was gone, Hunter jumped the friend’s fence and was picked up by Clark County Animal Control, which took him to the Humane Society for Southwest Washington.
Hunter had no tags or microchip, so HSSW held him for 6 days to see if his owner would show up to claim him. No one did, so they put Hunter up for adoption. A Vancouver family adopted him 4 days later.
Jones didn’t learn Hunter ran away until he returned because he was not in cell phone range. Once he knew he contacted HSSW to see if they had Hunter. That’s when he learned someone else adopted Hunter.
Since the family was now Hunter’s legal owner, HSSW was unable to do anything other than asking the family if they would return Hunter to Jones. Initially, the family refused because “they had already bonded with him.”
Hunter will go home after his owner returns from fighting fires in Eastern Washington. Photo from William Jones.
On August 16, Jones created a social media firestorm after posting Hunter’s story on HSSW’s Facebook page.
His story outraged many people. They flooded HSSW’s page with messages demanding that the organization and/or the family that adopted Hunter return him to Jones.
Yesterday, HSSW posted that the family agreed to return Hunter to Jones. They said that they understand that William needs his dog.”
While the story has a happy ending for Jones and Hunter, HSSW didn’t deserve the vitriol directed towards it.
HSSW couldn’t do this because they legally transferred ownership of Hunter to the family that adopted him.
They do this with every dog they adopt out.
If municipal shelters in Washington pick up a stray dog and can’t determine the owner, they must hold it for 3 days before putting it up for adoption in case it has an owner looking for it.
HSSW waited 6 days before posting Hunter for adoption. Since the dog had no collar and no chip, staff had no way of knowing that Hunter belonged to Jones.
Per its standard practice, HSSW had Hunter neutered and chipped before putting him up for adoption.
So to everyone savaging HSSW for not taking Hunter from the family that adopted him, just back off. The shelter acted appropriately.
If Hunter had a microchip or a collar with tags, HSSW could have given him back to Jones.
Many thanks to the family that adopted Hunter for returning him to HSSW. They paid about $1000 to treat Hunter’s medical issues. They also installed an invisible fence to prevent him from escaping. I hope they find another rescue dog to adopt soon.
Jones is back fighting fires in Eastern Washington, so he won’t see Hunter until he returns home.
I’ve such mixed emotions. Those of is in rescue have worked long and hard to make adoption a mainstream option to help alleviate overpopulation and high euthanization numbers. The crucifixion this adoptive family withstood after trying to do the right thing in adopting a dog in need was completely unnecessary. Williams’s dog was unaltered and a two-time straight pickup and even after that still not microchipped or wearing a collar with tags. I am sorry but I’m afraid being a firefighter does not excuse him from his obligations towards his dogs and now Hunter is stuck at the Humane Society until he is done fighting this second round of Fire. I hope everyone is very happy with themselves
Another reason to microchip your pet! It’s cheaper than 3 lattes for crying out loud!
I feel the adopted family should have kept Hunter, they truly cared and loved him. They should not have been bullied into giving him back. William was a irresponsible dog owner?? Hunter was not neutered, not chipped, no collar with identification, 2nd time as a stray!! Why should he get the privilege of getting Hunter back for being irresponsible owner. William should be held financially responsible for all that was spent by the family who adopted Hunter and the HSSW. He and he alone is the reason why all this happened, so sad!