‘I Am Not Giving Her Up’: A Dog Sitter Refuses to Return a Family’s Puppy to a Mom Undergoing Cancer Treatment, Calling It Protecting Her ‘Pack’
"She is part of our family now."
A Florida family says a dog sitter is refusing to return their poodle, Lucy, months after agreeing to foster her temporarily. According to People, Hanna Bustos hired the dog sitter at the start of 2026 to help care for the family’s dog while Hanna underwent cancer treatment and the family relocated.
Lucy, a gift to Hanna’s 14-year-old son, was transported to the dog sitter in February 2026 at no charge, according to NBC 6. When Hanna attempted to retrieve Lucy in August, she says the sitter refused, citing a desire not to remove the dog from her “pack.”
“And when I reached out to her with this offer, her response to that was that she was not going to give up the dog because she says that she was not willing to have her leave her pack,” Hanna said. The sitter allegedly told Hanna in a text, “She is part of our family now. We’re not willing to give her up,” and in another message, “I’m not willing to reconsider my decision of keeping her a permanent part of my family.”
The Family Says They Never Agreed to This
Hanna said there was no documentation making the sitter Lucy’s owner, and that the sitter understood the arrangement wasn’t permanent. “I felt like instant betrayal because I know that my son trusted me to trust her, and I made a judgment call that was not helpful for my family, and I could only think about him,” she said. Roger, Hanna’s husband, said their children have repeatedly asked when Lucy would return home.
Despite this, the sitter has maintained her position. “I am very sorry you are going through this, but this doesn’t change my decision,” she allegedly said. “I am not giving her up.” An arrangement like this one has a specific legal name. When someone temporarily transfers possession of property to another person for a defined purpose, without transferring ownership, the law calls it a bailment. The person providing the property is the bailor, and the person holding it is the bailee.
A bailee is generally required to return the property once the agreed purpose or time period ends, and refusing to do so after a demand for return can expose the bailee to a civil claim for conversion, treating the retained property as if it were wrongfully taken. Florida law offers a specific civil remedy for exactly this kind of dispute.
A replevin action allows someone to sue in court to recover a specific piece of personal property that another person refuses to return, and Florida courts can issue a prejudgment writ ordering the property returned before the case is fully resolved if the owner can show a clear right to it. According to the Florida Bar, the state legally classifies animals as personal property despite their emotional significance to a family, meaning a pet dispute like this one is generally handled the same way as a dispute over any other item of value.
Depending on Lucy’s appraised value, the sitter’s refusal could also implicate Florida’s theft statute. Under Florida Statute 812.014, knowingly obtaining or using another person’s property with the intent to deprive them of it permanently or temporarily constitutes theft, and if the property is valued between $750 and $20,000, the offense becomes third-degree grand theft, a felony.
The Bustos family says they have filed two police reports and hired an attorney to pursue legal action in civil court. The dog sitter has not publicly responded to the family’s account, and there’s no indication she was contacted for comment.
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