Woman wants back dog that went missing, was adopted by someone else

LATROBE, Pa. — A young Latrobe woman is fighting to get her dog home after it went missing and then was adopted by a new family.

Sarah Harvey told Channel 11 relatives waited weeks to tell her that her pug, Winston, was missing, and after he ended up at the Westmoreland County Humane Society, he was adopted by a new family.

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State law says facilities can hold found dogs for 48 hours, although if they're microchipped or licensed, they often hold them longer as they try to track down owners.

"We've had him since I was 14, so he lives at my dad's," Harvey said. "It's not like I live somewhere and dropped him off at my dad's to watch him and never called and checked on him. He lives there, that's his home."

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She goes to college and works full-time, so Harvey hasn't been able to move Winston from her dad's to where she's living now.

They broke the news he ran away on Christmas Day.

Winston was adopted in less than two weeks.

"It makes me sad. Dogs have feelings. I can only imagine how he feels that he's in a completely different home with nobody that he knows, when he's been with (my family) for five years," Harvey said.

According to state dog law, dogs can be held for 48 hours before being put up for public adoption, but Winston wasn't licensed or microchipped, so there's no proof of ownership.

"If I can't pay the refund for the adoption or pay even more, I'd like to just see him one more time and make sure he's in a happy home," Harvey said.

Harvey said she never knew her dog wasn't licensed but that after dealing with this, it's a good lesson. Her best advice is to get your dog licensed, chipped and tagged.

Cox Media Group