A veterinarian was reportedly charged with stealing a homeless man’s dog — but she claims she was rescuing the animal.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office in Michigan charged veterinarian Amanda Hergenreder with misdemeanor larceny under $200 after she took the animal in November 2024, according to a WOOD-TV report.
Hergenreder told the outlet that she had been in Grand Rapids for a conference when she saw the dog tied to the back of a truck with a rope behind a business. She said she inquired about the brown pit bull mix at nearby businesses and was told that the canine belonged to a homeless man.
“There’s no food, no water, no shelter,” Hergenreder recalled to WOOD-TV. “Nobody’s nearby. This obviously isn’t a home. It’s a parking lot, and he’s tied up — not even with a leash. He’s got this frayed rope that’s just tied to the hitch. Obviously not being well taken care of.”
She said she waited for 30 minutes before calling the Grand Rapids Police Department and asking them for advice, saying, “I can’t just leave this dog like this. What do you think I should do?” She claimed a police intern told her, “I can’t give you advice or anything like that, but just do what you gotta do,” per WOOD-TV.
Hergenreder then cut the dog’s tether and examined him. She noted that the dog was acting like he had “no energy” and was “very lethargic,” so she took him to her clinic where she claimed she performed $3,000 worth of surgery on the pet to clear up a severe urinary tract infection and remove a rotten tooth he had, before taking the dog home with her.
However, the dog’s owner, Chris Hamilton, told WOOD-TV that he left the dog — named Vinny — behind the business in order to walk to a nearby gas station. He said he thought he had left a bowl of water and said he had been gone for about 30 to 45 minutes.
When Hamilton returned, he found his dog gone and when he queried some bystanders, they told him that a woman in a van snipped Vinny’s rope and took the dog. The man — who told WOOD-TV that he obtained Vinny from the Kent County Animal Shelter more than a decade ago — said he then reported the theft to police.
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“I just want my dog back,” Hamilton told the outlet. “I had my dog 15 years. Never neglected him and, you know, we loved each other. I mean, I felt like I lost part of my body after that. Never felt the same after losing him.”
Kent County Animal Control reports obtained by WOOD-TV state that the agency has previously responded to reports of “a possibly neglected dog.” However, they also state they found “no signs of cruelty/neglect.”
Grand Rapids police instructed Hergenreder to return the dog to Hamilton, though she reportedly refused after she said she felt authorities would not conduct a thorough investigation of the dog’s living conditions, per the outlet.
“I rescued this dog. I put more than $3,000 into medical treatment, and now I’m just supposed to hand him over to go back to those conditions? This isn’t right at all,” she told WOOD-TV.
Since Hergenreder would not hand the dog back over, the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office charged her with misdemeanor larceny, and her trial is set for March 6. Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker said the charges are simple.
“It’s just taking something that doesn’t belong to you,” he said, per WOOD-TV. “You don’t have a right to just take something because you feel something’s wrong. You don’t just take matters into your own hands.”
“People have a very big attachment to their animals,” Becker continued. “No matter where you are in life, what your stature is in life, be it rich, poor, whatever it is, this is something that’s important to an individual. Obviously, the jury will have a right to hear the case and make a decision based on the facts and evidence.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the Kent County Police Department and Prosecutor’s Office for comment on this case.
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