Is there something we can do to help this woman get her dogs back?

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/woman-fights-to-find-regai...

this woman went away to Africa and while she was away her dogs escaped from their caregivers. They ended up in the shelter in Honolulu. Despite the fact that they were microchipped and the ex-boyfriend who was caring for them was one of the official emergency contacts on the microchip file, the shelter refused to give him the dogs back. One of them, the German Shephard, was adopted out to a family and now this poor woman has no way of knowing where he is. The shelter won't cooperate.

I feel awful. If that was me I would so loose my sanity. Has anyone else heard of this story? Maybe we can write a letter to the shelter or the microchip company or something?? At least, sign the petition...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Even if this story is true, the woman in question appears to have plentiful resources: http://www.elzbietatrzeciak.com/

We all have to pick and choose where and how we can help dogs in need.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I don't think this link indicates she has any resources, but it does give me the impression she's a bit of an attention seeker. Still not a reason why the HSUS should get away with what they apparantly did to her dog.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Shelters that call themselves "Humane Societies" are not usually affiliated with the HSUS. Didn't that other article you posted say that the HSUS doesn't run shelters?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Sorry Jane and Karen. I have to agree with Sherri on this one.  Jaded.

It happens and often.  There were several cases in my town where this was happening.    The owner goes to the pound to get their dog and they claim it is not there but it is. Opps.   Then is adopted out to someone else.  Worse yet--euthanized 3 days too early. Opps

For goodness sakes if you have ever met some of the jerks that work at these places you would  never second guess they could do something like this. No doubts in my mind.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, I have no doubt that the shelters make horrendous mistakes. But then again, if an owner surrenders a dog, the shelter has the right to adopt that dog out. We don't really know the circumstances of how the dog came to be in the shelter. If the ex-boyfriend was a live-in, and signed the paperwork representing himself as an owner, which he may have done, then the shelter did nothing wrong.

The point is, we don't really know. But even if we did know, there are a lot of dogs in trouble, and each of us can only do so much. When there are limited resources of finances and time, we sometimes have to turn away from a situation in which we do not think we can much good in favor of one where we may be able to save a life.