Possible dog abandonment, what to do?

Constiful

From time to time my parents care for the pets of friends and acquaintances while on holiday or away for work etc. Just after Christmas they took 2 dogs for a stay until 10th January. The father was going to Dublin to look after his son's business while his 2 sons went to Texas to see their mother. The youngest son (nothing to do with the business) is the one who looks after the dogs but I'm not sure who is technically the "owner". The 10th January came and went and the father in Dublin was contacted to see when he was coming for the dogs. He told he would have to find out when his son's were coming back. I found this a bit fishy as who agrees to look after a whole business without knowing when the actual owner will be back? This was over a week ago. We heard nothing back from the father and when we tried to call him yesterday there was no response from his phone.
I am worried that they are not going to come back for the dogs and have abandoned them with my parents. We have already had to take one to the vets because when we were brushing her we found a massive lump on her side which turned out to be a hernia. We simply can't afford to keep them and they don't socialise well with our own dogs anyway.
There was no contract or anything like that as this is a very informal thing that my parents do. Where do my parents stand if the owners never come back for the dogs? Is there legal action that can be taken?

Ms Doubtfire1

You could - if this is indeed the case - open a case of unlawful abandonment:
Section 1 (1)(f) of the Protection of Animals Act, 1911 (inserted by Section 4 of the 1965 Act) introduced a further category of cruelty which arises:- "(Where) being the owner or having charge or control of any animal [a person] shall without reasonable cause or excuse abandon it, whether permanently or not, in circumstances likely to cause it unnecessary suffering, or cause or procure or, being the owner, permit it to be so abandoned.”  
Furthermore you could maybe try and find a rescue who would take them. They won't stand much chance in a pound. 5 days only.

tk123

Text him - assuming it's a mobile number you're calling. He may be able to ignore your call but you can be fairly certain he'll read a text!

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