A few days ago, I saw a man at the local supermarket pinning up signs saying “Found, Lost Puppy, Wanted $200 Reward”. At first, I was amazed at how greedy and cold-hearted someone must be to hold a puppy for ransom (it struck me as something only a cartoon villain would do). Now, I’m wondering: is this even legal? Can you really demand a reward to return somebody’s lost property?
IANAL, and YMMV depending on your state. However, in New York, you do not have the right to hold on to something found. By law, if you know who the owner is, you must return it. There is no such thing as “Finders Keepers” in NY. Holding it hostage for a reward could be extortion, I would imagine.
Lawyers?
Zev Steinhardt
IAAL, but this is still basically a WAG.
Laws regarding the ownership of pets vary from state to state, so it may matter how long the dog was missing and/or the circumstances it was lost in. For instance, the owners could have given up on finding the dog and therefore “abandoned” their property interest in it, in which case the finder can demand whatever he wants for it. But if the dog still belonged to the original owners under state law, and the finder refused to return it unless he was paid a reward, the finder would most likely be guilty of some sort of theft-related crime. The precise crime, of course, depends on the jurisdiction.
Merely asking for a $200 reward would not be a crime, however. I see nothing in the sign described by the OP that says the finder won’t return the puppy unless ransom is paid.
Of course, the dog’s original owners may be liable to the finder for any reasonable costs he incurred in rescuing, feeding, and boarding the dog, but that’s a whole kettle of kibble.
here in Australia (Maybe only sydney) it is now illegal if your dogs & cats arent microchipped, injecting this chip into them (i say injecting because that is all it is, the chip is tiny and the needle is huge) and the chip carries all your information, Address, Phone Number, Name Etc.
So if a stray puppy is found, it is taken to the vet & scanned; if they are chipped, it will be returned to the owners. If it is not chipped; they will try and find the owners of the pet & give it back, but also with either a fine for not having it chipped, or a bill for them chipping it.
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Does that mean that if you move, change your phone number or sell/give away the pet, that the vet has to go in, get out the old chip and put in a new one???
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Zev Steinhardt