It seems army soldier, Robby Gabbert will get to have his Shiba Inu, back after all, this despite the new family who came to acquire the dog on craigslist telling that they had become too attached to the dog after a whole week to give it back to its long term owner.
Through no fault of his own, Robby Gabbert’s ex girlfriend who had volunteered to take care of 3 year old Baxter (whom Robby Gabbert acquired as a puppy) while he was on deployment came to sell the dog after discovering that she really didn’t want to take care of her ex boyfriend’s dog.
This led to her putting an ad out on craigslist and selling the dog off to a seemingly happy family whose kids the family would later tell had irresistibly fallen in love with the dog. But that’s what kids do. They fall in love immediately with anything and everything.
Having found out that his dog was no longer in his former girlfriend’s hands, the army man posted an ad on craigslist:
I am currently deployed and my ex sold my dog. I just found out and I am trying to find the people (person) who bought him. I will pay anything to get him back. His name is Baxster and he is an Shiba Inu. I do not have my phone with me. You can email me. The phone number is my mom’s she is helping me locate him. If you have any information PLEASE give us a call or an email.
The posting would lead to a Facebook campaign which miraculously helped locate the new owners. But to the chagrin of Robby Gabbert, the new owners were not too happy about giving back the dog, telling that their dog had become too attached in the course of a week. Then again maybe they shouldn’t have had to give the dog. They did after all act in good faith and could only assume that the sale was legitimate.
Although several sources are reporting that the family who purchased Baxter is still clinging to the dog, it looks like they’ve agreed to give him back to Robby’s family, where he’ll stay until Robby comes home.
Posts KOAA 5 latest update on Facebook:
We just got word from organizers of the “Help Bring Baxter Home 2014” Facebook page that they have the family’s word that Baxter will be returned to Robby. They are still reaching an agreement, but the Facebook page has been removed at the family’s request.
However heartbroken the kids are now, they won’t even remember the dog in a week.
What douchebag wrote this? They had it for 1 week. Shut up. And it seems like the family is playing hardball. This author is full of crap, simultaneously bleeding heart over the poor family and claiming they’re being forced to give up the dog, when there’s obviously no such force. They AREN’T being forced to give it up because that would require a lawsuit. And they seem to be playing hard ball because they’ve demanded a Facebook page be taken down and they’re negotiating a release? I thought it was about love, but that sounds like money to me.
The man is serving our country. How could they even have a question about giving the dog back. What is wrong with people. When they balked at giving back the dog they should have been charged with possessing stolen property. The law still sees pets as property. So use that against them if the dog isn’t returned!
Such a Happy Ending to this story. Was wondering if Mr. Gabbert ever found his dog. Thank god the girlfriend is an EX
Good for this soldier! His ex should be ashamed of herself! She should have contacted his family & made arrangements to hand the dog over to them. The family that bought should have done the right thing from the beginning. This man is serving our country & deserved to be treated better than that! This story touched me because my last name is Baxter & I would want someone to do the right thing if I were in his shoes. Its good to know that there are good people out there who want to pay it forward.
So glad that Baxter is going home. I’m sorry for the kids, but they only had the dog for 1 week. Maybe since Baxter’s real owner was “willing to pay any amount” to get Baxter back, he can give the family some money towards purchasing a puppy they can grow from a pup, and have all the happy memories of the dogs entire life stages. This can also help teach the children that pets are real family members and not just possessions. (These kids may not need this lesson, but many children –and adults too–do need to learn this.)
As for the unspeakable girlfriend, if she didn’t want the dog anymore, she could have contacted Robby’s mother and given him back. I hope somebody someday gives away something she loves and she has to go through hoops to get it back.
Finally, thank you, Robby, for your service to our country, come home safely to your loving family and to Baxter. The best of all to you.
“Then again maybe they shouldn’t have had to give the dog. They did after all act in good faith and could only assume that the sale was legitimate.”
I completely disagree with that statement. Just because you don’t know the property/pet you are buying is stolen doesn’t mean that once you buy it you are the legitimate owner of the property/pet.
What a (narrative descriptive unpublishable) lifelong b-i itch! And if she looses all of her internal muscle tone & control of front & back exits…those are alot of failures for self control of your natural impulses and could perhaps deny you of a future relationship. A life of looseness is….well you certainly have an imagination!
Karen from Connecticut.
Oh Please, they bonded after just one week?? Let me ask the so called “owners” of this dog how they would feel if this happened to them? I am very Glad that they decided to do the right thing!! Yes the children will be hurt, sad, upset etc. however this will also teach them a valuable lesson that life is Not always fair!! Imagine if this was your sons dog and he was off serving our country, would you have the same view…I think Not. Robby Gabbert I am very happy for you to get your dog back