GUADALUPE COUNTY – A Guadalupe County family is trying to rescue its dogs from a rescue group they say is holding them hostage.
Pearl and Meryl slipped out of a gate on June 9 off Schneider Road, outside Seguin.
“They just didn’t show back up,” Gary Whitehouse, the dog’s owner said.
Guadalupe County Animal Control had picked up the pair.
Wendy Grant saw them online.
“I saw them on Facebook and saw that they were about to be put down,” Grant said.
Wendy then found the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society in Spring.
She said they would adopt the dogs, and pay the necessary fees if Wendy got them from the pound.
It wasn’t long, though, before Gary Whitehouse and Wendy found each other.
“He identified where they were lost, he identified the date they were lost, he identified the color of their collars, they answer to their names, I mean what more do you want,” Grant said.
But Wendy said the director of the rescue insisted the dogs not be returned.
“We lost legal rights to the dogs when they ended up at the pound and we missed getting them there, so by law, yes, they’re the legal owners,” Debbie Whitehouse, Gary’s wife said.
The Whitehouses agreed to pay $125 for each dog, but then they say the price changed.
“When I called the director, she said oh no it’s $350 per dog, I can’t afford that. I don’t have that kind of money,” Gary Whitehouse said.
KENS 5 spoke to the director of the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society today by phone.
She told us in order for the Whitehouses to be able to claim these dogs, they’re going to have to provide vet records, something they say they don’t have.
They’re also going to have to pay for medical expenses that have been covered by the rescue society.
The director was not able to give us a total cost.
“They’re held for hostage and they’re trying to extort ransom from us,” Debbie Whitehouse said.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Gary Whitehouse said.
The Whitehouses, who own nothing but rescues themselves, just want their girls back.
“The whole goal should be re-uniting pets with owners and then spend the resources with your agency on finding good, appropriate owners for those who truly need a home,” Debbie Whitehouse said.
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