Sheltie That Was Mistakenly Adopted By Another Family

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by Inside Edition 4:10 PM EST, January 26, 2016

Sharon Robinson was overjoyed to be reunited with her dog, Tipsy, who was mistakenly adopted by another family.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAQr_T-bLyg&feature=youtu.be


After a long, agonizing saga of being lost and found, a Shetland Sheepdog has finally been reunited with its rightful owner.

"You're home baby," sobbed 71-year-old Sharon Robinson as hugged her Sheltie named Tipsy.
"Oh, Tipsy," she said as INSIDE EDITION documented the joyous, and tearful, moment.

The Stocton, California, woman had been searching for her beloved miniature Collie since the dog disappeared in December from her home. The dog did not have a collar or microchip.

She and her husband, Larry, 73, had been out of town when her son called to say Tipsy had somehow escaped from the couple's fenced-in yard.

The loss was heartbreaking, said Robinson, noting that her days were marked by crying in the morning and crying every night.

She says she visited the local animal shelter several times, but didn't find Tipsy, she said.

Then she learned the dog had been transferred to another shelter, located about an hour away. Tipsy had already been adopted by then, and the dog's new owners were also in love with the Sheltie.

They didn't want to give her up and shelter officials said they were powerless to force the new owners to surrender Tipsy.

Read: NYPD Cops Traveling to Police Dog Funeral Save Wheel-Chair Bound Woman In Crash

The canine custody battle went viral after Robinson posted photos of her dog, and her plight, on Facebook.

Viewers responded with "Shame on you for being so selfish," one wrote. "Give the dog back. Simple," wrote another.

The adoptees, who declined to be identified, had a change of heart and returned Tipsy to shelter administrators, who brought Tipsy home to the Robinsons.

"We're never going to let you go again," Sharon said, hugging her dog.

And she is definitely getting a microchip implanted in Tipsy, she said.

PLEASE MICROCHIP YOUR DOGS!
 

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I can't imagine refusing to return a beloved dog to her owner no matter the situation, so thankfully the family who adopted Tipsy finally did the right thing.

Trini
 
omg Tipsy is a beautiful little Sheltie! That family should have returned her the moment they found out she belonged to someone else-how could they let her miss her mommy and daddy?!? Glad she got her back.
 
I had also seen this story and my heart ached for the Robinson's. I also read the comments people posted and they were not kind to the "new family". Thank you so much for posting this wonderful happy ending . . . and I agree with the other posters, SHAME ON YOU for not returning that FAMILY member to their rightful pet parents. :gaah
 
This is happening more and more with the whole retail shelter thing going on, preying on people's emotional need to have a "rescue" dog. Dogs are not being held, being transferred too quickly, etc.

Please make sure your dogs are microchipped, and that those chips are registered somewhere that lists with the AAHA list

http://www.petmicrochiplookup.org
 
I think every dog should be microchipped, just for peace of mind.

It's lucky the dog was a sheltie - if it had been another breed it may have been put down instead of being passed on to rescue once her time was up. I do feel sorry for the people who adopted her. Their previous sheltie had recently died and they filled their heart with a rescue dog. Now their hearts have been broken for a second time. They didn't know where she came from - the rescue said the dog was emotionally in a bad way when they took her in so who can blame the new owners for wanting to make sure. I don't think they should be condemned.
 
when rescue goes awry

what gets me is story after story about HOW dogs are handled by shelters and rescues. WHY would they take them immediately an hr away, this is like they KNOW people will search in their areas, but they don't want them reunited with their owners. And I think many times people are helping themselves to these pets, the pets aren't always escaping as said. Something smells rotten. And yes, what a ROTTEN scenario for the adopting family. They want to do right by going to a rescue place. But it seems that rescues aren't really rescuing. Isn't that what Penny did with Piper. She had NO right to treat a dog as poorly as she did, in the name of "rescue". And yet she is causing an owner who PROVED over and over her ownership, to fight endless ridiculous expensive court battles. And microchipping proved USELESS in that scenario, because they have the ability to change chip info. I don't know what the answer is, but it makes me MAD that basically the dogs suffer.

How do you protect your pet from awful people doing wrong things:no:
 
I suspect there another side to the story -- there always is. I've read a lot of condemnation of the people who adopted Tipsy. Maybe the shelter didn't communicate clearly. Perhaps a child fell in love with her. Perhaps they weren't as hyper-aware of the issue as we all are. The important thing is, at some point, and for some reason, they made sure Tipsy got back to her Mom.

I applaud them.
 
I saw the story on tv & was glad that Tipsy finally went back to her owner. I am involved in dog rescue & focus on shelties. There is no way that I'd ever keep a dog if I knew there was proof it belonged to someone else. If it had been neglected & things like that I would try to work things out but not in the case of Tipsy. That was clear cut. I do feel sorry for the adopters. They were hoping to find a new sheltie to love & now have lost again.

Shelters & rescues have to start doing a better job of getting accurate info on animals coming in. I adopted Buddy from a rescue near me. They knew I loved shelties & called me when he came in. He had been found wandering in traffic & the people who found him tried for a month to see if someone claimed him. When no one did they gave him to the rescue that contacted me. Even so I still looked online & watched the paper for anyone that might post looking for him. No one ever did so Buddy is still with me almost 8 years later.

By the way, all my dogs are microchipped & so are my 2 cats. Every dog I get into rescue gets microchipped right away if they aren't already chipped. It's well worth the price to help insure you can prove it's your pet & also to help reunite if they get lost.
 
I am glad everything turned out okay. However, when I read this before, I had to post in the comments that a miniature collie was not a real thing. Someone beat me too it of course but I added my two cents as well on the ET site. :lol:
 
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