My question involves personal property located in the State of: Tennessee
I will try to make this as short and to the point as possible and then will be glad to clarify anything.
We lost our home last summer. A friend agreed to take in two pets until we got a new place. She had them while we were in a living situation in which we could not have our pets. She did not want to continue watching them so she took them to a pet rescue group and would not tell us where, stating she "forgot" where. After a lot of investigation we have found them and wrote to the organization asking for the return of them. They have been separated and adopted out of state. I do not know what our so called friend said to the organization but no one ever reached out to us when they were taken there and initially placed in foster homes.
The organization has ignored us.
My research indicates that pets are considered "property" in this state. Does the organization have to return our pets as they were (in our eyes) stolen from us? Do we need to file a police report or take this to small claims as a lawsuit? The organization charged an adoption fee which is a little less than the value of the pets. Alternatively can we request that they reimburse us that fee instead of returning the pets? We really want the pets back but do not want to go to court or get anyone in trouble. Also if it does go to court can we sue for court costs/legal fees and missed day of work?