VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — Hunter the dog will soon be re-united with his firefighter owner, weeks after the dog went missing while his owner was battling wildfires in eastern Washington.
While William Jones was gone for 3 weeks, he left Hunter with one of his friends. But the dog jumped that fence, was found and taken to the Humane Society of Southwest Washington. Hunter was soon adopted out to another family.
When Jones returned home, his friends told him told Hunter had jumped the fence and was missing. Jones then called the Humane Society of Southwest Washington.
“We are in contact with William’s family and girlfriend, and they will be reunited with Hunter as soon as William can get off the fire he is currently fighting” — Humane Society
“(It) turned out that he was there, but he got adopted,” Jones said. “They told me there was nothing I could do about it, it’s already been legalized.”
The Humane Society says they then followed their protocol: they held Hunter for 6 days before putting him up for adoption, twice as long as they’re required to by law. Four days later, Hunter was adopted by another family.
After learning Jones had owned Hunter, the Humane Society reached both to him and to the family who adopted Hunter. They family said they’d already bonded with the dog and were keeping him. As the legal owners of the dog, they are within their rights to do so.
But now, Hunter’s new family reconsidered and returned the dog to the Humane Society.
On their Facebook page, they wrote:
“They asked us to share with our FB friends that they are deeply saddened, but understand that William needs his dog. We are in contact with William’s family and girlfriend, and they will be reunited with Hunter as soon as William can get off the fire he is currently fighting. We have set up a separate Facebook page for Hunter that we will update whenever something happens. The page will be left open for comments as long as they are not vulgar or vitriolic.”
Hunter was not microchipped, and the Humane Society says microchipping is the only way to know for certain who owns a specific pet.
Filed under: Animals, Clark County, Editor's Pick, Human Interest
