Brandon area resident, Cindy Gutwein, was shocked to learn that her five-year-old purebred staffordshire bull terrier, Zamboni, had been stolen from a back yard in Edmonton, and she did everything in her power to find him. 

That was 7 years ago and Gutwein believed her dog was never to be found, that was until 2 weeks ago when she received a phone call from a vet clinic in Beaumont, Alberta telling her that her terrier had been found.

Gutwein says Zamboni was trained for competition and had participated in a competition meet in Edmonton, staying with a friend the day he was taken.  Zamboni had been chipped with a tracking device, however going to the police, contacting the micro-chip company, putting up posters in the area and on Facebook, and contacting local animal shelters back in 2013 brought no results.

When the phone call came from the vet that Zamboni had been found wandering the streets in Beaumont Gutwein was thrilled.  But this is where the story gets messy.

Zamboni had been living with a local family for the past 6-7 years and the Beaumont authorities returned the dog back to the family before Gutwein could make a plan to get him back.

Local Beaumont authorities say that for the health and welfare of the dog, he should remain with the family he has lived with for the past half dozen years.  No amount of pressure from Gutwein and her family and friends have been able to reverse this decision.

This week, the file was reviewed by the Beaumont authorities’ supervisor, who agreed with the initial decision to return the dog to the local family who has had care and control of Zamboni over the past 6 years.

For Cindy Gutwein, this is heart-wrenching as she wants her beloved terrier to come home.  She says the fact that her dog had been chipped and she has the proof of ownership papers, and yet he is not being returned to her as its rightful owner, suggests a much bigger problem.

This raises a number of questions:

What is the benefit of chipping an animal if the company doesn’t back its product?  Or vet clinics don’t check or honor the chipping process?

Was Zamboni never brought to a vet over the past 7 years prior to this incident, and if so, did the vet clinics not check the chip to find out that the dog had been stolen or gone missing?

If Zamboni had not been to a vet clinic over the past 7 years, is it in the best interest of the dog to not have its annual vaccinations?  Shouldn’t that help authorities decide where it should be returned to?

Zamboni was born in 2008 and Gutwien bought him at 14 weeks old, paying some $1800 for the purebred pup. Does proof of ownership and taking care of the dog for the first 5 years of its life mean nothing, especially when Gutwein did her due diligence to try and find him?

If this was a prize racehorse that went missing and was found some 7 years later, would it be returned to its rightful owner?

Gutwein says this is most concerning to pet owners all around when this kind of decision-making takes place.

Gutwein is seeking legal council in the attempt to bring Zamboni back to Manitoba.