Update 2/23/16: After this story sparked outrage, the family who adopted Tipsy returned her to her original owners! Hear more on Inside Edition.
Original story: An elderly couple has finally found their beloved eight-year-old Sheltie after she went missing in early December. However, 71-year-old Sharon Robinson and her 73-year-old husband still await a happy reunion; their dog, Tipsy, has been adopted by another family–and they refuse to give her back.
The Robinsons were in Boston when they found out Tipsy had gone missing from their home in Stockton, California. Frantic, they scrambled to book a flight back to the west coast the next day, and began desperately searching for the Sheltie.
After posting dozens of fliers, talking to neighbors, calling vets and continuously searching the city’s lost-and-found animals website, they were given no answers as to the whereabouts of their sweet girl.
“We looked every day. I even looked when I was sick, and they thought I was coming with pneumonia again,” says Mrs. Robinson in a story by Fox 40.
Over a month later, Mrs. Robinson got word from the Valley Humane Society that they had rescued Tipsy from the Stockton Animal Shelter, but she had since been adopted.
The Valley Humane Society–who has aided in substantially reducing the animal shelter’s kill rate–fostered Tipsy because she was visibly shaken, and too scared to eat. Once the stray hold expired 10 days after admittance to the shelter, the Sheltie’s ownership was legally in the hands of the humane society, who was then able to put her up for adoption.
Once Tipsy was available, a family who had recently lost their own Sheltie fell in love with her and adopted her into their home.
The Robinsons, who hold a Certificate of Pedigree for Tipsy, have pleaded with the new family to get their dog back, offering to reimburse them for the adoption fee.
But the family is intent on keeping her in an ironic lack of empathy, despite having just experienced a similar loss.
“They’ve loved her for a little over two weeks. I’ve loved her for eight and a half years,” says Mrs. Robinson in the aforementioned news story.
The elderly former owner says she regrets not keeping Tipsy’s collar on at all times and not getting her microchipped. She also says that, in addition to their efforts, she learned it would have been best to contact shelter and rescue groups every day to ask about any pets they’d found.
But the Robinsons have not given up. The animal services department is looking into the case to make sure proper processes were followed in the Sheltie’s rescue and adoption. The couple is considering hiring an attorney, and plans to keep fighting for custody of Tipsy until she is back home.
(All images adapted from the Fox 40 news story, “Elderly Couple Heartbroken After Missing Dog Adopted By New Family.)
