31 animals found in Florida home when breeder dies. ‘Nightmare’ situation to find owners

After 13 dachshunds were found at a dead man’s home in Florida, they were taken to a local shelter, rescuers say.

Now, people are coming forward saying they’re the dogs’ rightful owners.

The SPCA of Brevard Adoption Center announced Sept. 29 that 31 animals had been found at the home of a man who had recently died.

“Several of his friends got together and were able to take more than half of his dogs, and a couple other rescues were able to take the farm animals and birds, which left 13 dachshunds and 4 cats needing help,” the adoption center said in a Sept. 27 statement.

Calls came flooding in about the dachshunds, the shelter said, and officials asked the public to be patient because the animals were not ready to be adopted.

Some of the dogs might not need to be adopted because they already have owners, the center said.

“In the days since the 13 dachshunds have arrived at our shelter, we have had several people come forward claiming that they are the rightful legal owners of some of these dogs, and they’ve produced accurate documents that support their claims,” the center said.

Susan Naylor, the executive director of the SPCA of Brevard Adoption Center, told McClatchy News that some people said they had contracts to breed their dogs with the deceased man, who appeared to be a dachshund breeder.

According to Naylor, some people claimed they had not gotten their dogs back after giving them over to be bred. People from countries such as South Korea and Brazil have reached out claiming ownership.

“This is way more than we’ve ever dealt with,” Naylor said.

McClatchy News could not immediately reach the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 29 for comment.

Now, the center is trying to determine which of the 13 dachshunds in their care already have owners. The search is difficult because only a few of the dogs have microchips, and those chips aren’t registered to anyone.

Naylor said two people have even come forward claiming ownership of the same dog.

“We had no idea it was going to be this complicated,” she said, calling the situation a “nightmare” as they try to determine the authenticity of all the claims.

The shelter is asking anyone who claims a dog is theirs to submit documentation of ownership and show when they handed over the dog to the breeder.

“In an effort to ensure that we are handling this situation legally and covering all of our bases, we are currently taking necessary steps to attempt to reunite these dogs with their rightful owners,” the center said.

Any of the dogs that aren’t reclaimed by Oct. 11 will be put up for adoption, according to the shelter.

“We’ll hopefully be able to sort this out,” Naylor said.

This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 7:10 PM with the headline "31 animals found in Florida home when breeder dies. ‘Nightmare’ situation to find owners."