Lost Dog Given as Christmas Present

I don’t know how these people are keeping so calm about this – I’d be pursuing every legal avenue I could to get my dog back:

The holidays were sad enough for Kim Velevis and her husband after their lovable pug “Scooter” dug its way out of the backyard and disappeared on Christmas Eve. But the real blow came with the new year: A letter from an anonymous woman who had found the friendly dog and gave it to her daughter as a Christmas present. To compensate for Velevis’ loss, a $20 bill was enclosed.

“The puppy has a different name now, but he has plenty of food and toys. My daughter adores him. He sleeps with her every night,” said the letter, which arrived Wednesday.

Velevis, 28, said she feels for the guilt-ridden woman, who described herself as a nearly penniless alcoholic. But she wants the dog back.

Who does that?? The dog dug its way out of the backyard, it’s not like they let it run around the neighborhood. This idiot comes along and thinks the dog is free for the taking – even with a collar and tag with the owners’ address on it (which is how she knew where to send the letter and money!).

Scooter could still be nearby. The typewritten letter, which carried a Tulsa, Okla., postmark, said the woman found the dog while visiting her daughter in Dallas. She wrote that her ex-husband has custody of the girl.

The woman, who discovered an address on the pug’s collar, described a series of difficulties in her life.

“I lost custody because of problems I had with alcohol, and I have lost everything else,” she wrote. “I have been sober for 6 months, and I am trying to turn myself around, but I have lost everything. My little girl wanted a pug dog like your little dog (very much!)”

This leaves me speechless. This woman still obviously has problems if she thinks it’s okay to flat-out steal someone else’s pet because her six-year-old wants it. What a stellar example she’s setting!

Velevis said she has no interest in pursuing charges against the woman and would be glad to purchase the woman’s daughter another dog.

This kid is getting all kinds of fantastic life lessons from this debacle, between mom the dognapper (providing she ever tells her where the dog actually came from), and the rightful owners offering to buy another one. There’s being soft-hearted and going above and beyond and then there’s being a doormat.

Maybe we can hope that the girl’s father will read the story and put the pieces together, provided he was also fed a story about where the dog came from and doesn’t already know.

What do you think?

[AP image]