Reuniting kids with their puppy

When Michelle and her children were removed by family violence services from their home for urgent safety reasons, they were taken to a hotel and could not bring their dog Chorizo with them. Instead, Michelle made arrangements for a friend to collect the dog.

Before that could happen, and without Michelle’s knowledge, her ex gave the dog away.  Michelle immediately updated Chorizo’s microchip details to register her as a missing dog. When the new “owner” brought the dog to a local veterinarian, the vet staff searched Chorizo’s details on the Global Micro Animal Registry, but did not pass on Chorizo’s status as a missing dog or notify Michelle as the registered owner.

Months later, when we became involved, we wrote to the vet to say that Michelle anticipated seeking Court orders for preliminary discovery of the address details of the new “owner”. Instead, we were able to obtain those details directly from the vet. We then negotiated with the new “owner” to have the dog returned (in exchange for a release from any claims against them or the vet).

Within one month of us writing to the vet, Chorizo was back with her forever family.

Pro Bono dog Kransky appears below in a dramatic re-enactment of Chorizo’s return: