New bearded dragons

My husband and i are now the new proud owners of 5 bearded dragons.

Heres how we got so many and the new twist.A guy on kijiji was giving away some reptiles of a former tenant who moved out so we went and looked to see what was there and there was alot so i asked this guy about them and he said the former ran a reptile "rescue" out of the home and because of that the tenant was evicted.

The "rescue" is a very well known and not for good reasons.

My husband has extensive experience with reptiles so we took 5 out of 7 dragons that were there and i get a call last night at 11pm from some lady saying i have her dragons and they were only being boarded with the rescue.Where things get weirder is i seen an ad on kijiji yesterday looking for anyone who knows where this "rescue" is located because they had some of her reptiles....According to the landlord they guy lived there almost 5 months and why would you board your pets at a place you have never been to or seen.

So i called to police info line and asked legally are we in the wrong he said no cause we had permission to take them,So i get another call from whom i have now dubbed phsyco chick cause ya she is acting like one she left a message saying that about 5 days ago she lost contact with the "rescue" well it now took her 5 days to start searching all of a sudden the day that all the reptiles are being rehomed cause the landlord did post 3 ads on kijiji looking for any potential former owners to come forward if they wanted their pets back and not 1 response so he started rehoming them.

I dunno all this sounds fishy to me and me and my husband are now stuck in the middle,Dont know what to do since we have put in alot of money for their food and vet care as 1 was injured.

The police say they wont do anything if she was to call them but now she has my number and i am not sure how...maybe the landlord?She wont stop calling and she is very nasty to me on the phone.

i'm a new member here and was just surfing around the site and saw this one you posted a few days ago.  i'm surprised no one has posted to it. 

i've worked in rescue for nearly 25yrs in florida.  it's a tough job.  really tough sometimes.  your case is one of the really tough ones.  you do not have to turn over any of the animals you now have in your possession unless those supposed owners have legal paperwork or proof of some sort that those animals are theirs.  receipts for purchase, vet records, pictures of identifying marks, personal/professional references on paper and documented of ownership, etc etc etc.  you tell them this on the phone, they'll cuss ya for a few minutes, but you just tell them that's what the police told you and they'll quit calling. 

believe me, i've been at this a VERY long time.  with dogs and parrots working w/our local animal control and humane society and i've helped a good many animals and saved them from being put down or ending up back in the worst hands. good luck and don't let the bad guys beat ya.

DW~
 

The whole thing sounds fishy to me. If they were really hers you would think she would know more about the rescue, that she would be searching for them, and that she would have responded to the first ads put up in search of the owners. Why now?

I would keep them, if she keeps calling you, call the police and see if they can do something for harrassment. If not, I would change your number.

I wish you the best of luck with this sticky situation!

Also, good luck with the beardies! I love them so much!