For the past two weeks, there's been a little brown and white Shih Tzu (I actually thing he's more Lhasa Apso, but I digress) running around the neighborhood. He's fairly well kept except for needing a hair cut, and he's a sweet, friendly little guy. We've been taking him in when he shows up because we honestly didn't know where he belonged. And, he's such a cutie that I'd hate for anything to happen to him.

Well, he showed up again two days ago for the fourth time. I couldn't tell if he'd been slipping the fence or if someone had kept taking him out of the yard, so this time I made sure to go out with him when he needed to relieve himself. If it was that he was slipping the fence, I'd be able to take care of the breach for the next time he shows up and we could continue trying to find his people. If it was that his people were coming to take him home, I'd be able to see that and ask them where to drop him off the next time he gets loose.

Today, someone did show up. A boy of about 12. His mom was standing in their front yard watching as they took the dog out of our back yard. She had the audacity to accuse me of trying to steal the dog. She then stated that they'd been knocking on the door for two days, which is a bald-faced lie because I haven't heard anything at the door. I've been home the entire time and I haven't had anything playing loud enough that I wouldn't have heard the knocking. Besides, the doorbell is painfully obvious and in working order, loud enough that I wouldn't have been able to miss it.

So, the thanks I get for keeping this dog safe, warm, and fed for two days is an accusation of larceny. I've posted notices on several lost and found boards, scoured classifieds for lost dogs, and the next step was to take him to the vet to see if he had a chip. Yeah, that sounds like stealing a dog to me. As a reward for her gratitude, and maybe just to teach her a lesson, I'm just going to call animal control the next time I find him running about loose. Let's see how much she likes going down to the pound to find him. Maybe then she'll get him a tag, patch her fence, and guard her door better.

And there was one simple thing that she could have done when they took him out of the yard the first time: leave us a note. Let us know where the dog belongs. Or, better yet, ring the doorbell. Tell us. As much fun as he is, I don't need another dog, nor do I want to take theirs. Honestly. I just don't want to be driving down the street someday and find that he's been turned into cement cream, or worse, eaten by the pack of coyotes that are only about a mile away. Little dogs can travel a mile surprisingly quickly.

Gah. People are crazy. And stupid.