Battle Ground’s William Jones said he’s thankful for the outpouring of support after his missing dog, Hunter, was mistakenly adopted, and for the help of the Humane Society for Southwest Washington through the ordeal of getting Hunter back.
He also expressed remorse over the massive, and often vitriolic, deluge of online commentary directed at the Humane Society and the family that adopted Hunter.
“When I posted photos and my plea to get my dog, Hunter, back last week, I had no idea it would go viral,” he wrote on a Facebook page the Humane Society created for Hunter’s story.
Before leaving in late July to fight wildfires in Eastern Washington, Jones left Hunter, a black Lab mix, with a friend. Hunter jumped a fence, was picked up by animal control and brought to the Humane Society, and then adopted by a new family while Jones was away.
Jones returned to learn Hunter had been turned over to a new family two days earlier, and took to the Humane Society’s Facebook page to try to resolve the situation.
Shortly after, he was called to another fire, he said in the more recent post to the “Hunter the dog info” Facebook page.
“A lot of people came to my defense and I appreciate that. At the same time, a lot of people got really mad at the Humane Society and at the family that adopted Hunter. I feel real bad about that,” he said.
Hunter was found with no microchip, and without tags or any kind of registration. Licenses are required for dogs living in Vancouver, Battle Ground, Yacolt and unincorporated Clark County.
No one reported the dog missing, according to the Humane Society, where the staff pores through missing pet listings daily. The Humane Society said it receives 25 to 30 stray dogs weekly, and most of them are Lab mixes.
The Humane Society held on to Hunter for 10 days, which included its usual waiting period for unidentifiable strays and time for medical work — a check-up, microchip implant and neutering — and additional time as he awaited adoption.
Jones’ initial posting to the Humane Society shot across the internet, and the organization faced a growing backlash.
An article at www.columbian.com about Hunter’s return had about 65,000 views as of Monday afternoon. The story had been liked, shared and commented on more than 45,000 times on The Columbian’s Facebook post as of Monday evening.
The Humane Society took the unusual step of contacting the new owners, who initially declined to return the dog.
The family later changed their minds, the Humane Society said Sunday.
According to the Humane Society, Hunter’s new family discovered he had additional health issues. The family’s vet determined he had been underfed for some time, the organization said, and the family spent more than $1,000 on additional medical care.
Hunter also jumped the new family’s fence, but they were able to find him thanks to the chip the Humane Society implanted in him, as it does to all the strays it picks up. The family also bought an invisible fence to keep him from running off again, the Humane Society said.
“With the continued escalation of rhetoric, we spoke again with the new owners, and they had come to a point where they felt it would be better to return Hunter to William. And, so we have taken possession of Hunter once again,” the Humane Society said in a news release.
Hunter will wait at the Humane Society until Jones returns from his firefighting work. Jones has not returned messages from The Columbian for additional comment.
“I know how much the family must have loved Hunter, because I loved him from the day I got him,” Jones wrote on the Hunter page. “I want to thank them for taking such good care of him and for giving him back. And, I want to thank the Humane Society for taking care of him when he was a stray and giving him a microchip and license.
“Now, I am working on making sure he will be well cared for when I’m gone.”
