Helping people, but....

I don't mind helping people especially when it comes to helping them find lost pets/finding lost pets.

The other day, Andrew and I were visiting our Vet's office to say "hello" and see their new boarding facility (aka "hotel suites" for dogs.) This guy came in from the shopping center around the corner, and he had a small Jack Russell Terrier on a harness and leash, and he asked the Vet Techs to scan the dog for a microchip. Apparently, the dog had been running up and down the sidewalk when he scooped him up and took him to the Vet's.

No microchip.

The Vet's office asked, "What are you going to do with him?"
The guy said, "I don't know. I have to get back to work. Is there a shelter?"

So I decide to post information on Craigslist (albeit vague) about the dog and said I would provide possible owners with contact information for the Vet's office who had the guy's contact information so that the possible owners could be told what shelter the dog went to/what happened to it. I listed the breed and what it was found with, but I listed nothing else: sex, intact or spayed/neutered, color, etc. because I wanted possible owners to tell me those things/send pictures so I could say "yes" or "no" to the dog possibly being theirs.

With anyone that replied, I did a search on their e-mail address, and all four people came up as having multiple dogs for sale on other websites - RED FLAG. They sent me photos of "their" dog - none of which matched the actual dog and all of which were images they stole off websites.

This woman e-mailed me and said (IN ALL CAPS) this might be her dog, it ran away with a harness and leash attached (ad said that), and could she see a picture of it. She would send a picture of her dog when she got back home.

I told her to please describe the dog, and send me a picture, and I could tell her if it was hers or not.

No response.

She replies to my ad again, says the same thing, and I remind her what I told her.

She sends back that she would send me a photo tonight, and still doesn't provide any information.

That was a week ago. The woman e-mails me just now to ask if I still have the dog that might look like hers?

I respond that first of all, I don't have the dog. I reminded her what my ad said. Second of all, she had promised me twice to send photos of the dog, and she hasn't done that yet. Third, I asked her to describe the dog, characteristics, sex, spayed/neutered or not, etc. and she hadn't done that either.

I apologized if she thought my e-mail was rude but that several people had contacted me saying the dog was theirs, but pictures (that were stolen from websites) did not match. I don't expect to hear from her again, but geez. If I lost MY dog, and someone said, "send me a picture," you had better be darn sure that as SOON as I could send a picture, I would. If they told me to describe him/her, I'd get right on that - right down to every last marking on my dog - any scars, any quirks, any commands he/she might know, etc. AND provide Veterinary records showing the dog was mine.