Transporting / Stealing

I want to discuss transporting a dog for rescue here. With the advent of the social networking on the internet, many new people are coming out of the woodwork offering to help with both transporting dogs and fostering dogs. Big problem -- they don't get it, don't understand what we do in rescue, why we do it and how it has to be done. They read about rescue, they suddenly are sure they want to help and then cause big heartaches and headaches for rescues when they pull some stupid stunt.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about: Recently a rescue in New England asked for help in transporting a small dog from a shelter to a foster home they had all lined up. A person jumped up on the internet & said "Yes, I'll do it." This person had transported for another rescue before, so was deemed reliable and trustworthy. What happened was this -- the transporter got to the shelter to pick up the small dog, decided on the way to the foster home that she "might know someone that wanted this dog" and just took the dog home with her. KEPT IT. Won't return the calls from the rescue, refuses to turn over the dog she kept.

Now, there are legal issues here to be considered. First, shelters that release a dog to a rescue do so on legal contracts, stating the RESCUE is now the legal owner of said dog. If the tranporter insteads KEEPS the dog, then they are, by all legal standards, guilty of stealing the dog. No different than if they broke into the rescue's own home, stole the dog from the living room and kept it. STEALING is stealing. IF this dog now bites someone, or runs away & shows up at a shelter (microchipped) or gets into a fight with another dog, the rescue is liable. Yet the rescue doesn't even have the dog. The transporter does.

Rescues don't have tons of money to spend to file lawsuits to get the dog back -- which is what people like this count on.

No rescue goes out on the street to drag people in to volunteer with them -- people offer their help, want to volunteer, come to the rescue and say "Hey, let us help you!"
And rescues are happy for the help -- many rescues out there even pay for costs incurred like gas, tolls and even lunches for transporters. All the paperwork is decided on, set up & legally taken care of, between the rescue and the shelter ahead of time. The transporter simply shows up at the shelter at a designated time, picks up the paperwork and the dog and leaves for the foster home.

So now I'm wondering -- why do people offer to help then cause more issues like this? Why does someone think they have the right to steal a dog from a rescue and keep it or rehome it themselves? Why bother to offer help at all if instead you do nothing but cause serious issues?

The legal issues here just astound me -- I guess I just don't understand why someone would think its ok to steal a dog -- anyone's dog but especially a rescue dog owned by the rescue?? Sadly this isn't even the first time I've heard this -- I've heard stories of people doing it before but now its hitting close to home. And another case happened just last week with someone else in rescue who's rescue dog was kept by the transporter. WRONG, its WRONG to do this.

Have things gotten so out of whack in this world that this is considered by anyone to be an "ok" thing to do??

It is hard enough to do rescue correctly when it all works well and runs smoothly. But to have to deal with this just isn't right. I sincerely hope the dogs in these situations end up in the right hands and that these people STOP thinking they know so much more than the rescues do and STOP thinking its ok to steal a rescue's dog. And I hope that the rescues pursue this, and publicize the people who do these kinds of things.