A pet owner finds out too late that a valley animal shelter put up her lost dog for adoption.
When Samantha Bautista went to the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals because she'd seen her missing one-year-old husky Rocky on its website, she was told someone else had already adopted him and there was nothing she could do.
"Really sad because he's part of our family and our dogs miss him too," Bautista said. "Everybody misses him."
She says within three hours of Rocky's picture going online, the SPCA told her he'd been adopted.
Doug Duke, the SPCA's executive director, told us Rocky had been at the SPCA more than 72 hours.
Duke says once that amount of time has passed, only then can someone legally adopt the animal.
Bautista told us Rocky was there at least five days.
Duke added they take each dog on a case-by-case basis and will work with someone coming in claiming ownership, but that was another problem for Bautista.
Rocky didn't have a collar or an identifying microchip.
Duke emphasized the importance for pet owners to give their pets chips.
