## Facts

- Annabelle Arguello owned a Great Dane named Chopper and lived in Kenner, Louisiana.
- During Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Arguello evacuated to Houston, Texas and left her dogs behind with food and water because she lacked space to transport them.
- About a week later, Arguello returned, retrieved the dogs, and on September 7, 2005 placed them at the Lamar-Dixon temporary animal shelter in Prairieville, Louisiana, completing intake paperwork for temporary housing.
- Around September 20, 2005, a Lamar-Dixon volunteer called Arguello about Chopper’s behavior; Arguello stated she expected to return for Chopper in roughly two weeks.
- The volunteer agreed Lamar-Dixon would hold Chopper and would contact Arguello if the shelter could no longer house him.
- When Arguello returned to Lamar-Dixon less than two weeks later, Chopper was missing; the shelter system helped locate the beagles, but Chopper could not be found on site.
- Arguello later learned Chopper had been transferred out of Louisiana to a New Jersey rescue organization, People for Animals.
- People for Animals placed Chopper for adoption, and Pamela Behmke adopted him in New Jersey.
- In November 2005, Arguello located Chopper and demanded his return; Behmke refused, asserting the sheltering arrangement permitted treating the dog as abandoned after a stated deadline.

## Issues

1. Whether Arguello abandoned Chopper, extinguishing her ownership rights.
2. Whether the shelter’s transfer and subsequent adoption were valid given the shelter’s agreement to hold Chopper and provide notice before any disposition.
3. Whether a purported reclamation deadline in the shelter paperwork defeated Arguello’s claim despite the shelter’s later oral assurances and Arguello’s efforts to retrieve the dog.

## Decision

- The court granted Arguello a writ of replevin and ordered Chopper returned to her.
- The court found Arguello did not abandon Chopper and remained the rightful owner.
- The court held the shelter’s out-of-state transfer and the subsequent adoption were invalid as against Arguello because they occurred in breach of the agreement to hold the dog and provide notice before disposition.

## Legal Principles

- Companion animals are treated as personal property for purposes of ownership and possessory remedies, including replevin.
- Abandonment requires intent to relinquish ownership; temporary separation caused by emergency conditions, coupled with diligent efforts to recover the animal, supports a finding of no abandonment.
- When an owner places an animal with a shelter under an agreement that the animal will be held and the owner will be contacted before any rehoming, the shelter acts as a bailee (or in a comparable custodial role) and may not convey valid title in violation of that agreement.
- Specific, later assurances by a shelter to hold an animal and provide notice may control over generalized cutoff language where the owner relies on the assurances and attempts timely retrieval.

## Conclusion

The court ordered return of the dog to the original owner because the owner did not abandon the animal and the shelter’s transfer and rehoming breached its obligation to hold the dog and notify the owner before disposition, leaving the adopter without superior title.


Arguello v. Behmke, No. C-87-05, 2006 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2977 (Ch. Div. Jan. 26, 2006)