A Halifax woman is fighting to get her dog back after a women’s shelter volunteer gave the pet away while she was hospitalized.
Beth Wallace has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and says for nine years her dog Casa helped her cope.
“To me, she's almost like a service dog,” said Wallace.
“You know, that's how much she's given my life ... She makes me laugh a million times a day, no matter what's going wrong.”
In early May, Wallace found herself at a women’s shelter, but because the organization was unable to take animals, she asked them to help find someone to foster Casa and her cat.
“I felt completely confident with the process,” Wallace said.
Days later, she was hospitalized for treatment for mental illness.
Three weeks later, she learned her cat was ill and had been put down, and her dog Casa had been re-homed.
“It was just like someone took a two-by-four and hit me over the head with it, and I've been reeling ever since.”
The lawyer representing the volunteer who first took care of Wallace’s pets and then gave them away says the volunteer believed the animals had been abandoned, because Wallace failed to keep in contact as they had agreed.
The lawyer says his client feels bad about the situation, but the dog is happy in her new home and the new owners don’t want to give her back.
The women’s shelter Adsum House isn’t able to talk about the case for privacy reasons, but Wallace says the executive director has been in touch.
“She did come to the hospital and apologize, but that hasn't brought the dog back,” Wallace said.
Police have been involved but say this is not a criminal matter.
Wallace, for her part, says she’s not willing to stop until Casa comes back to her.
She is taking the matter to the small claims court.
“They've yanked something out of my life that's really, really important.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell
