Bobbi M.
2 years ago
Here’s how pet ownership works in the state of California:
Pets that can be legally owned are considered personal property. Your TV, your car, your clothes, your wallet, and everything else you own that is movable, is personal property. This includes your pet.
If you’re out walking and find a bag full of money, it doesn’t become yours after a certain period of time. The same goes for stray domestic animals.
The only legal way to take ownership of a stray domestic animal (thus preventing the original owner from reclaiming their pet, or claiming you stole it) is by adopting from an animal control agency or rescue organization that has taken the stray animal from an animal control agency after it has served a mandated stray holding period.
There are no laws to support any exceptions to this rule, and there is the potential for “your new pet” to end up with its rightful owner if the person demands it, and is willing to go to court.
I am by no means a lawyer, nor am I giving legal advice (property laws fall outside of animal control/pound services’ jurisdiction), but what I’ve seen and read regarding who gets to keep Fido, when it comes to civil court rulings, depends on if all reasonable efforts were made to locate the owner. “All reasonable efforts” could include, but may not be limited to, the following:
Posting in various online lost/found pet directories/forums like Facebook groups, Neighborhood apps, websites such as FindingRover, etc.
Making “found pet” posters and posting them around your neighborhood and the neighborhood where you found the stray animal.
Filing a found pet report with your local animal control agency and browsing through their lost pet logs.
Having the pet scanned for a microchip at a vet or a shelter. If a microchip is found, it is your obligation to deliver the pet to your local animal control agency to have them try to contact the owner and return the pet. You are able to adopt the pet if no owner comes forward and it serves the warranted stray holding period. This is the most sure-fire way to secure yourself as the pet’s owner!
