No happy ending for pet owner who finds his lost dog at area shelter

A little white dog named Jackson has been Tim Saylors best friend for the past 5 years.

Two weeks ago Jackson ran away.

“He’s like my child,” Saylors said. “He’s more than a child I can’t believe I’ve lost him”

This past Sunday, Saylors discovered Jackson had been taken to the Montgomery County Animal Shelter.

“I felt very encouraged,” Saylors said.

The shelter is closed on Mondays so Saylors says he went to claim Jackson on Tuesday.

Sure enough Jackson was there.

“He was in a cage there. He was highly sedated. He didn’t even know I was there,” Saylors said.

Jackson had just been neutered because someone had adopted him.

“The dog was adopted on Sunday and we altered it yesterday,” said Charles Jackson the recently appointed Director for the Montgomery County Shelter.

Jackson says Saylors dog was adopted on his sixth day at the shelter.

“It’s actually a contract. The dog is no longer my property. It becomes the property of the adopter,” Jackson said.

The shelter director says he spoke to those adopting the dog on Saylors behalf.

“I asked if there was anything he could do to get the animal back. They said no,” said Jackson.

Jackson says the adopters pointed out the dog wasn’t micro-chipped tagged or neutered and was heartworm positive. They apparently told the shelter director they would take better care of Jackson than Saylors did.

“I feel for him. He’s lost his dog that he’s loved for 5 years,” Jackson said. “There’s no doubt about that. I believe that he loved that dog.”

“It’s just tearing my heart out,” Saylors said. “And there’s nothing I can do about it.”