Final update on the yellow lab:
The first tag I checked was not a rabies tag - it was a license.
The second tag was a rabies tag.
After talking to the shelter administrator yesterday, my wife decided to roll the dice and call the number provided by the vet who issued the rabies tag.
The guy who answered said the dog was his, but that somebody was supposed to be watching after it while he was working out of town. He gave my wife that person's number.
Wife called person #2, who said it was not convenient for her to come get the dog but that she would meet me at the gas station near her house. She said she really wanted to get the dog back soon because the other dogs missed it. Never told my wife "thanks" or anything.
The woman showed up at the gas station and asked me how I ended up with the dog. I told her the story... that the dog was at that gas station and they were going to have it picked up because it kept going into the store. I asked around and nobody knew who it belonged to, and being on the side of a busy highway made me concerned that it would get killed. The woman told me, "Oh... well, she's never crossed the highway before."
I explained to her that the county has a leash law, and that she was lucky to have the dog back; that I had tracked the owner down by the rabies tag that was 4 years out of date, and that by the way, that is also a law. The local clinic only charges $8 for a rabies shot. The woman was completely dismissive, and starting to get snippy. Hell, it ain't my fault she's irresponsible.
Turns out the license tag is so old, that the county that issued it has re-issued the number. It is probably also 4 years old, like the rabies tag.
Before she left, she asked me if I had seen the other dogs - because they are missing also.
