Here is a cached version of Raffiki's adoption listing.
The dog arrived at the West Valley Shelter sans tags or other ID. That does not mean the dog was not properly collared at home when it went missing.
The rescue's own timeline asserts that they received and approved of the adoption to a new family less than one day after getting the dog out of the shelter. There was no home visit, and in fact the adoption was approved by Karma before the adopting family had even met the dog.
Altering ridgebacks is something that is not recommended until the animal has grown into its frame a bit; neutering at too young an age often promotes overly-rapid long bone growth that has been linked to cancer. Spaying/netuering young also tends to lead to aggression in females and intense shyness in males. And honestly microchipping is something the breeder should have handled before the pup was ever given over in the first place. The fact that she was unaltered at 8 months old is not only unremarkable, it is actually medically appropriate.
(I have ridgeback envy; my wife and I love the breed, but know ourselves well enough to recognize that we couldn't handle the activity requirements.)
Hockeynut! wrote:She supposedly looked everywhere, put up fliers, posted online, etc. but didn't check with a shelter 10 miles away? Yeah, I'm not buying that.
This is my neck of the woods. I can't imagine if one of my dogs went missing that I'd be calling shelters that far away. This isn't the same as PA; Panorama City to Chatsworth may only be ten miles apart, but I bet that ten miles has a quarter million people in it (including me and Mrs Tif), and depending on the time of day might represent a 45 minute drive. There are something like 8 or 9 other shelters between her home and the place where her dog ended up. And it's not as if the woman was completely passive.