I stole a dog today

I know it was legally wrong and I’m not debating that; if I told anyone in my real life they’d probably have an issue with it because of that.

But I feel like it was morally right

I live out in the boonies where we get a decent amount of snow but there wasn’t much this year. The dog is from a mushing camp up the road; nobody actually lives there. A family just dropped a bunch of stuff one day and chained up the ‘sled dogs’.

I saw the dog this morning taking my kid to school; she wasn't on her chain. Tried to get her to come to me but she was too skittish and ran off. Came back thru this afternoon (it’s been raining all day) and she was still running around. Waited outside for a half hour in the rain to coax her to me and walk her back to the camp.

However there’s no info there, no address or mailbox, no ID on her collar, nothing. Walked around and realized there's also 5 other dogs on chains. No food or water. They’d dug themselves into holes and their doghouses were blue barrels filled with soggy hay.

Found the food in a cage the loose dog had been trying to and was continuing to try to bury into; so skinny I can see all her ribs. I don’t know how often the ppl visit but obviously they hadn't been there today.

I've already called police about the dogs once last year. It kept thawing and freezing several days in a row and the two dogs I could see from the road were trying to climb the barrels to stay dry. But I called again and waited another half hour and then the trooper said they’ll head my way in a bit but don't wait for them. I asked what should I do about the dog and he said it should be fine.

By this time I’d finally gotten her to come to me and was able to see her collar had been rubbing her neck and her fur was completely gone there. I had also been picking ticks off her ears. I hung out a little longer hoping the owner would show but then I made a trail of food to my truck, picked her up and put her in the seat.

Officer called me later and asked for my info but didn't mention the missing dog and neither did I. Apparently the owners name is ——— and her name is ——— but she doesn't seem to recognize or respond to it. I cut the collar off her and cleaned the scabs and when I brought her inside she had no idea what to do and perched in the window 😮‍💨

I'm going to take her to the humane society tomorrow and if he wants his dog back he can explain why she's in such rough shape.