PA family refuses to give 10-year-old New Orleans' boy his dog back

What shoudl happen to the dog?

  • The family in PA should give the dog back to the 10-year-old in New Orleans.

    Votes: 20 74.1%
  • Finders keepers. If they wanted it so bad they'd go to PA and get the dog.

    Votes: 7 25.9%

  • Total voters
    27

NOFX

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Families battle over custody of dog
The Associated Press


DOYLESTOWN -- A New Orleans family that lost its dog in Hurricane Katrina is in a custody battle with a Doylestown family that adopted him.

Sheila Combs, who lost virtually everything she owned in the hurricane, said she wants Rocket, her 10-year-old son's chow-Finnish spitz mix, returned home.

Lynne Welsh took in the now 2-year-old dog from a local shelter last November. The Welshes have renamed him Rusty. Welsh said she made attempts to find the dog's owner last year, calling the phone number on his dog tag, sending letters and putting information on Internet sites.

Welsh said late last week she was willing to return the dog to Combs if she was willing to come and get him. Combs, a single working mother trying to rebuild her house in New Orleans, said it would be "unreasonable" to expect her to fly to Pennsylvania, but she is willing to have someone visit Doylestown and retrieve the dog. Welsh said she now plans to keep the dog and has hired an attorney to represent her.

Combs said she will do the same. "I will not give up," she said. As determined as Welsh is, Combs said, "I am just as determined to get the dog back.
 

renegadex96

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Wow....some people are really petty
 


slowhatch

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if i lived next door to them id let the dog loose when coincidently the new orleans family was in town. its stupid to take someones elses pet/property because you have no idea what their ties are to that pet/property, and what they'll do to get it back
 

Going-West

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Give the dog back. Just because pretty much everything you know has been wiped out and you don't necessarily have the means to go to PA, doesn't give the finders keepers rule validity to anyone who finds your stuff. Even if it does for some reason, just be nice, they lost everything give them back their dog.
 


LowNotSlow

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You know what, they took the dog out of a situation where it would be put down. It's not their job to bring the dog down to New Orleans, they want the dog they can come and get it, it's not unreasonable and the New Orleans family doesn't have a leg to stand on. The dog was in a shelter and was adopted, they lost their claim to it then and there.

PS> That was one of the most biased POS articles I've ever read.
 

NOFX

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I'd give the dog back.

The new owners in PA said the old owners could go get the dog in PA, but now they've changed their minds anyway! It's not like the first family gave up the dog willingly either. :what:

I hope everyone who votes readds the entire story too. :P
LowNotSlow said:
PS> That was one of the most biased POS articles I've ever read.
Interestingly enough, the paper is published in Pennsylvania, not New Orleans. :lol:
 

LowNotSlow

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They changed their mind after their offer was called "Unreasonable". At this point it's more than likely more about making a point than keeping the dog.

Their original offer was more than reasonable, it was generous, they have every legal right to keep the dog.
 

NOFX

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It is kind of unreasonable for the to travel that distance when there are companies that strictly ship animals such as dogs and cats.

(The mother from New Orleans) said it would be "unreasonable" to expect her to fly to Pennsylvania, but she is willing to have someone visit Doylestown and retrieve the dog.
 

renegadex96

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Agreed. Would've just been easier to have the dog shipped back, and maybe split the cost. Hell, if i was the New Orleans family, i'd have no problems paying for the shipping

That family has been through enough heartbreak and suffering with Katrina, give them their damn dog back!!
 

LowNotSlow

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I don't feel bad for people who lost "everything" in New Orleans and then go right back to rebuild there again. That's stupidity. If they have the ability to rebuild then they have the ability to rebuild somewhere else.

If I build a house in a swamp and it keeps getting flooded out and I rebuild it anyways, that's stupidity. They don't deserve a dog if they don't have the sense to move to a safer locale.

Everybody is reacting to the Pathos of the story but they're not thinking through to the fact that the Pa people never even had to look for the owners after they adopted the dog. They didn't have to have correspondence with the old owners, and that they are in fact the legal owners of the dog now and have been for 8 months. The fact that they were willing to give the dog back if the came to pick him up is generous, they have every right to change their mind when they get called "unreasonable".

And if you want them to have the dog back, why don't you pay to ship the dog down since you claim that's what you would do anyways. Do it. Really. You want them to have the dog, pay to ship the dog.
 

Pineapples

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I personally think if the dog means that much to you, you should go pick it up in person. You may not have the money and time, but it's not impossible. Welsh took care of the dog for two years, she even attempted to find the owner. I am sure it was hard to find the owner at the time. But I think Welsh has the right to keep the dog, she did saved the dog's life. This is actually a tough call since they both can have strong reasons to keep the dog. I had to really think about it before I can even decide who should have the dog. In the end, I think Welsh should keep it.
 

$lick Rick

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LowNotSlow said:
I don't feel bad for people who lost "everything" in New Orleans and then go right back to rebuild there again. That's stupidity. If they have the ability to rebuild then they have the ability to rebuild somewhere else.
i kinda gotta agree with this....

if you live in a flood plane and your house floods.... dont b***h.... move
the flood plane was there long before your stupid ass moved there

if you live in tornado alley and your house gets ripped up by a tornado... dont b***h.... move
it's been called tornado alley since your grandpappy was in diapers... get used to it or move the f**k out


that being said, i still think they should let the women retrieve the dog by any means she wants as long as they PA owners arent out anything
 

AutoFanatik

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i agree that its stupidity to move back into harms way, but i also think that in spite of this that the dog should be returned
 

LowNotSlow

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$lick Rick said:
that being said, i still think they should let the women retrieve the dog by any means she wants as long as they PA owners arent out anything
They'll be out of 8 months of loving care, food and vet bills for a pet that has become a family friend after they rescued it. If the dog meant so much to them in the first place why didn't they make sure it was safe?
 

NOFX

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Pineapples said:
I personally think if the dog means that much to you, you should go pick it up in person. You may not have the money and time, but it's not impossible. Welsh took care of the dog for two years, she even attempted to find the owner. I am sure it was hard to find the owner at the time. But I think Welsh has the right to keep the dog, she did saved the dog's life. This is actually a tough call since they both can have strong reasons to keep the dog. I had to really think about it before I can even decide who should have the dog. In the end, I think Welsh should keep it.
She did not take care of the dog for two years. The dog is now two years old. She picked up the dog in November after it was lost by it's original family in the hurricane and put up for adoption by rescuers.

If you build yur house in the middle of a frozen wasteland, and then one winter an ice storm hits and not only knocks out the power lines, but also caves the roof of your house in an bursts every pipe on the property, then that's your own fault for building your home there. And if your pet runs away in terror and gets picked up by me, then I should be able to keep it.

Go built it somewhere where there aren't natural disasters... tell me where it is when you find it btw. (Floods, droughts, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanos, forest fires, land slides, ice storms, etc.)

YES... some people in New Orleans have bitched about their situation without wanting to help themselves. Do we have evidence that this family is doing that? No.

And though the mother of the little boy could not go pick up the dog she said she had a friend who was willing to pick the dog up. Why does it have to be the mother that picks it up?

It was a hurricane. I'm not so sure how much better they could have taken care of the dog to keep it safe, but in the middle of a hurricane, no matter how much I love my dog, I'm getting my kid out of there first and fore most. Also, during natural disasters pets might run because of fear even if their owners try to keep them with them.
 

LowNotSlow

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if you have a 3 day warning, that's enough to get your ass and your family+dog out of harms way. Hurricanes don't spontaneously appear.

PS> When was the last time you heard of Vermont having natural disasters? An ice storm once in a while but nothing worth the title of "Disaster".
 

NOFX

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LowNotSlow said:
if you have a 3 day warning, that's enough to get your ass and your family+dog out of harms way. Hurricanes don't spontaneously appear.

PS> When was the last time you heard of Vermont having natural disasters? An ice storm once in a while but nothing worth the title of "Disaster".
Yes, and an ice storm or a blizzard is called a natural disaster too.

I'm not saying anyone was smart about staying down there, but maybe they hear it all the time and it puts doubt in your head. Just like when I lived in Delaware and they'd talk about a uhge snowstorm coming through, I didn't go out and make sure I had milk and bread and water. They're never even half as bad as they report they're going to be. Usually they report this huge storm is coming at us from the south and it looks pretty big from what you can see on TV. And then it gets closer and gets a little bigger... but by the time it gets to us at landfall, it's fizzled out for the most part. I'd imagine that coastal towns down south get hurricane warnings ALL the time and usually they're not much (in their opinions).

No matter the specifics, the original owners did not give upo their dog voluntarily and the second owner was even willing to give the dog back until the mother was not able to travel up there (there actually is no mention in the article that after the PA woman offered the dog back that the NO woman said it was unreasonable and THAT was the reasoning for the PA woman changing her mind - if you're keeping someone's pet that you're otherwise fine with giving up out of spoite because of a comment they made regarding them needing to drive 19 hours or fly ~1200 miles to piick up the animal... that's f**ked up and you need to grow up).
 

LowNotSlow

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it's hard to make any fair judgement given the poor writting. We need to hear from the PA lady and from the animal shelter.
 

NOFX

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Yes, I too agree that the article is obviously missing a lot of the information.

I can assume (since the hurricane is mentioned and the dog turned up so far from home) that the dog was lost sometime in the hurricane. But the article doesn't make it sure and they don't say if they had to evacuate and leave the dog for some reason, if it was left outside in a pen, if it ran away scared, anything.
 

Pineapples

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Okay, I must've read it wrong. I guess the lady didn't have the dog for 2 years, but she still took care of the dog and did try finding the owner. But giving it up now is like giving a member of your family away. Just like you adopted a kid, and play with him/her everyday, take care of him/her, he/she becomes part of your life. How could you give that up? I know I can't. But since we are talking about a dog here.. it's still hard to give it up. I mean if they really want their dog back, my question, again, is: Why don't they go to PA and get the dog? I know I would. In fact, they should go to PA and thank the new owner for taking care of their dog in person. Again, I know I would.

I think LowNotSlow is making some of the strongest points of the whole issue. They should've got out instead of staying and take a hit. It's their fault. I know I am going to get flame for saying this but.. sometimes I really don't feel sorry for the New Orleans people who didn't try to get out, because they had to shot of leaving and they had a fair warning. People who were disabled didn't want to or couldn't leave, that I can understand... But others..

One more thing about the dog: Shipping a living thing out and having a person, who you know will take care of it, come pick it up isn't the same. Just think about a pet that you own, you have to give it up to someone you don't know. Would you ship it out or have the person come pick it up?
 


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