If a neighborhood dog wanders to your house...

This is the FOURTH time (in a span of maybe 3 months) that we have found a little Jack Russel Terrier male dog (not sure how old) on our property. The first time, I called the owners, and it took them at least 25 minutes to come get it. To get to my house, the dog had to cross a semi-busy street, and go 4 blocks down. The second time, I wasn't able to catch it fast enough, but did chase the dog for a half hour. The third time, my husband drove it back to its house, and told the owners that this was the THIRD time we found the dog in our yard, and that we don't want to have to find it again. The owners said that he "likes to dig" and gets out of their yard often - obviously!. They thanked him and that was it. Now, a couple of weeks later, we're sitting in the living room, and our two dogs start barking and staring out the window. I let them outside, and they were sniffing the fence...right away, I knew the other dog was back. DH and I found it in our neighbors side yard and brought it into our house. The dogs nails clearly haven't been clipped in months, he's hungry and thirsty, and obviously isn't cared for. So now we're unsure what to do. If we bring him home, this is just going to keep happening. I already have 2 dogs myself, and keeping it is morally wrong since we know who he belongs to. If we bring it to a shelter, who knows what will happen. So what do we do?

Re: If a neighborhood dog wanders to your house...

I think bc they know who you are and visa versa, you have to return the dog. Unless it is really injured/neglected, then you could go the animal control, vet, shelter route (a non-kill shelter would be best).

Good luck... I know this is a hard decision.

Re: If a neighborhood dog wanders to your house...

If you know the dog's address, call the SPCA (or whatever they have in the county you live in) and make a report. At the very least, they will be able to give the owners tips on preventing the dog from escaping and how to properly care for the dog.

Our dog LOVES to dig. Luckily, she has only escaped to one side of our house, to our neighbor's, who have two very friendly dogs. They love to play together. Their dog escapes into our yard too. It's funny But if my dog was running around all day she'd be hungry and thirsty too, that's not a sign of neglect. And we stay on top of her now to make sure she isn't outside along long enough to dig. They obviously don't care enough to do that.

Good luck