ok this may get a little long, but i will try to make it as short as possible.

friend was looking for a dog, was approached by friends of a friend and ended up with a lovely 8 month old boxer.
the story was he was origionally from the rspca. he is a proper one, which has been docked profesionally. and is a stunnign animal.
the home friend got him from got him from the rspca last december abd basically when friend took him on they signed a recipt and friend paid 25 pounds. owners of the boxer said it was to pay for change of ownership for the microchip.

friend said that was fine, and wanted to pay somethign anyway to make ot leagal.

friend rang the vet where boxers owner said he was registerd. and the vets backed up the rspca story. they confirmed he was homed to the owners in december, and had castrated the boxer for the rspca and was refunded by the rspca. they also said he was chipped and was chipped when he was very young. goign by the date.

friend has had the boxer now for coming on a month and as of yet has recieved no microchip papers.

old owners said they filled out the form on lien for change of ownership. vet confirmed this can be done.

friend cant get any information even if she had the microchip number becasue of data protection.

what can she do?

Aren't RSPCA rescues on an "adoption" basis?   Maybe the transfer is not going ahead as the only transfer permitted is back to the RSPCA.

that'd certainly be the case with several rescues here. including dog's trust. because you don't ever actually "own" the dog that you've rehomed. instead, you are the dog's guardian and may not sell it on or give it away to anyone else. if, for whatever reason, it's impossible to keep the dog then it must be taken back to the rescue and only they will approve a future rehoming.

well if thats the case. im surprised the vet hasnt said anything.
the vet transfered the dogs notes to  my friend.

also to be honest the peopel who used t oown the boxer woudl never of passed a home check.

so i doubt they woudl even care.
friend would not have a problem passing the home check.
if the dog is now in a good , safe home i dont see what the problm is. itr would be stupid for the dog to have to go back to a kennels.

The thing is the dog belongs to the RSPCA and it is up to them where they home it, and the people who let your freinds have it had no right to.

i see what you mean.

there was a dog on our road that came from the shelter. he was given to someone else as well. seems to be quite common round here. maybe the shelters are just not so strict.

so what shoudl friend do now?
the boxer has come on so well with her. he has settled down in the home and it would be such a shame for him to have to be uprooted intill they have sorted paperwork only to then hand him back.

i suppose im thinking of the dog here.

Well unless someone tells them the rescue won't know that the dog has changed hands, same as I wouldn't if one of my puppy owners passed the pup onto someone else without telling me (I would be very upset if I found out).

I would suggest yoru friends contact the shelter, without giving their names and find out what their attitude would be in their situation. 

To be honest they really should tell the shelter.  They may take the view that a good home is a good home, but on the other hand may insist on a home visit and drwing up an agreement with yoru fre9nds, or worse insist on taking the dog back.

i doubt it is the vet's problem to be honest! his responsibility is veterinary care. however, i'm just stating it like it is for most rescues i know because they don't like their rehomed dogs transferred without them being involved. i'm not judging your friend, the previous owners or anyone in this case but there are good reasons why rescues prefer to keep the ownership of a dog in their hands despite the residential arrangements being with the people it has been rehomed to.

thus in this case the rspca are the only people who have the right to rehome the dog. a condition that the original rehomers would have signed up to so i'm sorry, but no matter how good a home your friend is offering, things mightn't go as smoothly as originally expected.

edited because i can't type quickly enough to keep up right now but could your friend not get in touch with the rspca and explain the circumstances of why she now has the dog?

she wants to do the right thng.
however she is now worried the rspca are going to turn up at her door and take the dog away.

Yes this tends to be how the RSPCA works. About 4 years ago a friend of mine died suddenly and all her cats were taken in by the RSPCA as she had no family. One of them I had bred, and I managed to convince the RSPCA to let me have him back -after a home check. I had to sign a contract saying I would never re-home him except to them, and that I would accept for the RSPCA to check up on him at any time. They never did though -the cat died last year.

so what happens to the origional owners. would they not get in trouble for rehoming the dog again?

Well I doubt the RSPCA would bother to do anything to them, but in effect they did dispose of property that was not theirs, similar to you disposing of furniture in a rented furnished home.

My only concern would be that the original adopters might try to adopt another animal as this one was not what they wanted after all.  This could be the start of a chain of adoptions that go wrong and get passed on for £25.  I am really surprised that the RSPCA let them have a dog without a home check (or without a proper one). 

I know that I would be reluctant to go in and tell them about this given where you live (I come from near you originally) but I would be inclined to write letting the RSPCA know that these people are not suitable adoptive prospects without giving your friends name, who seems to have got the care of this dog right.

Edited to say, the adopting cost for a dog here would be £75, which means the original adopters are out of pocket so it is all very strange.  Adopting a cat here costs £35.

When you write you need not give your name or address.