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TAMPA (FOX 13) - An Army veteran working overseas is trying to get his pet dog back.
A Bay Area family adopted the pooch after the person supposed to be watching her surrendered the dog to the Humane Society.
Michael Takacs got his dog, Precious, as a puppy two years ago.
"She was the runt of the litter, and nobody wanted her," he said over Skype.
The pit bull mix quickly became Takacs' best friend. So when the 25-year-old got a job working in Kuwait for a year as a military contractor, he arranged for a close buddy to take care of precious.
"He knew what was going on so he was very understanding at the time," Takacs said. "He was supposed to be watching the dog temporarily until I could get someone else to come get the dog."
Instead, Takacs says the friend dropped Precious off at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, telling the facility the dog was a stray, and not telling Takacs until the dog was already adopted.
"An entire family came in, they did a visit with one dog and it just wasn't the right fit, but as soon as they saw her that was the magic dog," said Pam Backer, Director of Shelter Operations at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
Precious was only with the family a few days before the Humane Society found out what had happened. However, when the facility reached out to them, the new family decided not to give the dog back. A choice that is completely in their hands since they legally adopted her.
"This whole scenario wouldn't have even occurred if the dog was microchipped or had some identification, some way of us knowing that there was an owner that we could contact and see if we could reunite them," Backer said.
A lesson Takacs is learning the hard way.
He tells FOX 13 News that he's heartbroken.
"You had the dog for three days, I had the dog going on three years," said Takacs. "I had the dog since she was a puppy, I held her head up while she ate, you know, this dog means the world to me, and I want her back."
Takacs offered the family $1,000.00 and to pay for another adoption if they let him have Precious back. He's also considering hiring an attorney.