Legal Question in Civil Litigation in West Virginia

Re: Dog Ownership

As you might suspect, a dog is personal property. Accordingly, it can be bought and sold like any other chattle. It can also be abandoned. Abandonment is a fact. It is determined by intent as may be expressed or taken from the circumstances. Thus it must be said that the true owner intended to abandon the property in order for some one else to claim it. In my opinion, a dog could not be expected to survive very long without care and nurture. The time within which the owner of a dog could reclaim is accordingly short. Unfortunately, there is no bright line test or absolute rule to rely upon. I would expect that after the passage of even several months, a court would not award possession of a dog to the former owner as being abandoned.