Lost Kansas dog not first that local rescue has been accused of refusing to return
MISSION (KSNT) -- A Kansas dog named Capone is the subject of controversy between his owner and Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption.
KSNT News affiliate FOX4 first reported on the story last week. Capone got out March 31 and ended up at Unleashed. Capone's owner has been fighting to get him back ever since.
And after our initial story about the fight over Capone, FOX4 became aware of criminal filings against Unleashed owner Danielle Reno for not giving dogs back to their owners.
"I am just worried because I don't know if he is OK," said an emotional Jessica Palacio, who hasn't seen her dog Capone since he got out March 31.
On April 4, Palacio got an email from Unleashed Pet Rescue that they had Capone and instructions where to pick him up. When she went to get him on April 8, Palacio was told she couldn't have her dog back.
"I got like 15 different stories about why I couldn’t take the dog," Palacio said. "When I had to go home and tell my daughter we couldn’t get the dog, she was upset."
FOX4 talked to Reno about this situation.
"We tried to contact her, but she did not update her number on her microchip, so we did one last-ditch effort and emailed an email that we found to give her the benefit of the doubt and see if there was a reason he looked the way he did," Reno said.
Capone has skin allergies, which Reno believes have not been treated in months. It's a claim Palacio denied.
This is a situation dog owner Jessica Jay said is familiar.
"She put me through six months of hell pretty much," Jay said of Reno.
In 2017, Jay’s white boxer JoJo got out and was found shot in the eye. After someone found her, the dog ended up at Unleashed Pet Rescue.
Reno’s organization paid for emergency vet treatment and surgery. When Jay found out, she went to make sure it was JoJo, and that's the last time she said saw her dog until she hired an attorney and went to the police.
"I wanted her to pay for what she’s doing," Jay said. "She’s taking peoples dogs away from them and assuming that they can’t provide for them, which is not the case."
FOX4 asked Reno if she had a comment about the criminal case involving JoJo.
"I was interviewed by the police department. They told me to give the dog back without having her pay the vet bills," Reno said. "I believe it was not against the law to ask. I did not know that at the time. I was naïve. I listened to what they said and gave her the dog back. Two months later was charged with that."
Reno was ultimately charged with criminal deprivation of property and entered into a diversion agreement with the court.
"We will always fight for the animal," Reno said. "We wanted the animal to remain in foster and recover, she agreed with us. The only part that we were at difference about was we thought we thought that the owner should take some responsibility."
The Mission Police Department has assigned a detective to look into the situation with Capone. This time there has been no resolution.