New Zealand Dog News

Reviewing the dog news in New Zealand with editors comments. Someone needs to keep reviewing how our dogs are doing in society.

September 24, 2007

Charge laid over lost dog

An Auckland vet has been charged with theft after allegedly stealing a pet dog from a family near her clinic.

This is a weird story...

The woman pleaded not guilty in North Shore District Court last week, but fears she will be struck off by the Veterinary Council after official complaints about her behaviour.

"I can see the headlines now: 'Vet on theft charges for trying to find owner of a stray dog'," she said.

The vet said she was only trying to save the dog's owners from a $500 fine from Animal Control officers who were "out of control".

However, the explanation did not wash with Fran Allison, who scoured the neighbourhood with her family looking for family pet Ollie, every night for a week.

I wouldn't really believe the story either. I am supposing that the dog was known to the vet, and that the dog had a tag with a phone number, and not only the animal control's number

"It was a really awful week, horrendous. I am extremely pissed off with her for what she put my family through," Allison said.

Ollie the "foodle" - a cross between a fox terrier and a poodle - went missing the day before Louis Allison's 13th birthday, apparently wandering away from the Allisons' Grey Lynn property after the front gate was left open.

Another nice dog on the loose by accident... Under the District of Gore (or proposed), the dog would be shot on site or sight!

I can understand the vet not wanting the family having a $500 fine, if that were the case.

The vet told the Herald on Sunday that a friend had found the dog, recently castrated and scruffy-looking, wandering the streets and brought it to her nearby clinic. She took Ollie to her North Shore home to care for and said she could not reach the owners.

Meanwhile, Allison and her family were frantically searching the streets around their home, posting flyers in the nearby park and placing advertisements in the New Zealand Herald.

Five days after the foodle went missing, Ollie escaped from the vet's house and was sent to the West Auckland pound after a neighbour called animal control officers.

Boy this dog would have been shot twice if he were in Gore!
(you have to read my blog to understand what I'm talking about)

Waitakere Animal Welfare scanned Ollie's microchip but no data came up because the registration was too recent. The vet claimed the dog back a day later and, according to Allison, Ollie would never have come home if not for a stroke of luck.

The story is sooo strange...

Allison visited the kennels the same morning Ollie was released and gave his microchip number. "They said, 'we had your dog here last night'," said Allison. "There was no question it was him, the microchip is like a set of fingerprints. If he hadn't been microchipped, we would never be able to prove he was ours."

Horray for microchips for this reason, ... but I thought that they just said that the registration was too recent, and therefore couldn't 'read' the chip?!? This is a bit weird too, hell the whole story is..

Animal Welfare then called the vet and asked her to return Ollie. When she allegedly refused, the kennel told Allison to file a complaint with police, who then obtained a search warrant for the vet's home.

The vet heard someone "thumping" on her door but could not immediately answer the door because she was in the bath. By the time she found a robe, the police had smashed the glass on her front door.

Inside, police found Ollie and another missing dog, a beagle called Billy, owned by lawyers who have declined to comment.

Well, that vet needs some help!

The vet has pleaded not guilty to one charge of theft and is due to appear again in court in November. Fran Allison has complained to the Veterinary Council.

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