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Owners of Bela the beagle desperate to find her after they say she was wrongfully taken at shelter

The person who said they would take the beagle and continues to wait ended up just keeping her, the Lost and Found Pets of Hillsborough County Facebook post read.
Credit: Rebecca Lawrence
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Lawrence

TAMPA, Fla. — A beagle’s owners are desperately trying to get her back home after they say she was given to a stranger at an animal shelter.

A post on Lost and Found Pets of Hillsborough County's Facebook page says 'Bela' the beagle was given away at the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center on Falkenberg Thursday afternoon.

The post also says the person who first found the beagle was waiting in line to get her to the shelter but gave her to another person when he could no longer wait anymore.

Photos of 'Bela' the beagle courtesy of Rebecca Lawrence.

Now the family is desperate to find Bela and bring her home.

“My kids keep asking ‘where’s Bela?’ ‘When is Bela coming home?" Rebecca, the woman who says she is the rightful owner of Bela said.

Rebecca said Bela got out Monday and was missing for a few days when she saw her picture on the lost and found Facebook page. She was really excited and reached out to them, telling them it was her dog and that she missed her.

She found the person who posted about Bela originally, only to find out he had already taken her to the shelter.

Unfortunately, she also found out from the shelter that they never had the dog. The man who brought Bela to the shelter told Rebecca that he was told by the woman who took Bela that she was a volunteer and would take care of her.

Rebecca and her family are waiting to look at surveillance video from the shelter on Monday, where she hopes to get things sorted out.

“I walked past her food dish and teared up," Rebecca added.

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