Sam Hanson-Fleming was overjoyed two months ago when he spotted the dog he'd lost more than a year ago.

Hanson-Fleming was waiting in line at

when he saw Chase -- a 2 1/2-year-old husky-shepherd mix -- sitting in a car idling behind him. Hanson-Fleming ran up to an open window and exclaimed "Chase!"

"Chase instantly jumped out of the car and into my arms," Hanson-Fleming said. "He was licking me and loving me -- all excited like he gets."

Hanson-Fleming could see that the driver of the car -- Jordan Biggs, a 20-year-old Oregon State University student -- was attached to the dog she found in spring 2011. So Hanson-Fleming, 30, agreed to let her and her family say their good-byes, then meet up with him later in the week to return the dog. But Hanson-Fleming's elation turned to despair when Biggs two days later told Hanson-Fleming she wouldn't be giving him back.

Hanson-Fleming told her he was calling police. She hung up the phone, and cut off all contact.

That's all according to Hanson-Fleming, since Biggs has declined to comment to The Oregonian. Her attorney also couldn't be reached for comment.

Hanson-Fleming called the Portland police, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, Corvallis police, the Benton County District Attorney's Office and finally,

. Animal services director Mike Oswald was charged with determining the dog's rightful owner. He made his decision Tuesday. (Read on to find out what it was).

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Each year, thousands of pets across Oregon go missing. As of Wednesday, Multnomah County Animal Services' website featured 768 reports of lost dogs, and 811 reports of lost cats.

Oswald can remember only a few cases in which two parties showed up to the shelter and claimed ownership of the same cat or dog. Oswald said in the absence of a microchip, he and his staff scrutinize photos, veterinary records and how the dog or cat interacts with the so-called owners before making a ruling.

"People believe or want to believe it's their animal," Oswald said. "These are gut-wrenching decisions. They're difficult decisions."

But most cases are handled by police or in civil court, Oswald said.

She was eventually reunited with Merlin.

Hanson-Fleming lost Chase on March 27, 2011, after the 45-pound canine jumped over the fence in his back yard in Southeast Portland. Chase was wearing a collar with his dog-license number and a phone number. Hanson-Fleming filed a lost dog report with animal services, posted a Craigslist ad and posted fliers throughout his neighborhood. He continued to call the shelter weekly.

Finally, five months later, Hanson-Fleming figured Chase -- the dog who spent nearly every waking hour with him (Hanson owns a small sign-making company that allowed him to be with Chase) -- was gone for good. His sons, ages 7 and 13, also were devastated.

That is until the day Hanson-Fleming, who now lives in Northeast Portland, spotted Chase in Biggs' SUV. After exchanging contact information, Hanson-Fleming rushed to the store to buy a hefty bag of dog food, and home to dig Chase's leash and food and water bowls out of storage.

Hanson-Fleming has pieced together Biggs’ story from conversations he had with her, and statements she made to police or the

: The 2010 Reynolds High School graduate found the dog near Alder Elementary School, not far from where Chase went missing. She went door-to-door, posted found fliers and phoned the Oregon Humane Society and animal services in search of the dog’s owner. When no one came forward, she asumed the dog was hers. She named the dog “Bear” and spent thousands of dollars on the dog, training him as her service animal since she has asthma.

"She said 'I love him and I'm not giving him back,'" Hanson-Fleming recalled. "I said, "

I

love him. He's

my

dog.'"

Meanwhile, Hanson-Fleming grew increasingly agitated as the weeks ticked on by, and Hanson-Fleming grew annoyed that police or animal-services employees didn't force Biggs to hand over Chase. Hanson-Fleming perused Biggs' Facebook page, which features glowing photos of the dog in Biggs' arms, her face aglow.

But the dog doesn't appear to be on the trip because he isn't pictured in any photos of Biggs and friends backpacking the rugged terrain. Hanson-Fleming finds that strange, asking that if Biggs indeed has asthma and has trained the dog as her service animal, shouldn't the dog be on the trip?

One of Bear's favorite movies is listed as "All Dogs Go To Heaven," a favorite food as Cheez-Its and a favorite game, Frisbee. Bear has 55 friends, and has "responded" to their posts on his wall with "Ruff Ruff!"

Biggs and

-- failed to respond to requests from Oswald, the animal services director, for information that proves Biggs is the dog's rightful owner. When Oswald heard nothing, he extended the deadline by a week, but still heard nothing.

Hanson-Fleming, on the other hand, provided Oswald with a bounty of evidence: Chase's Multnomah County dog license; a copy of a lost dog flier that he created; a copy of a lost-dog Craigslist ad that he posted and photos of Chase with Hanson-Fleming and his sons -- rolling on the floor in their arms, taking walks by the railroad tracks, sunning himself on a rafting trip down the Clackamas River. Hanson-Fleming also provided Oswald with photos of "Bear" that he'd pulled off of Biggs' Facebook account, and a photo taken of Biggs and Bear by the Gazette-Times.

A distinctive black mark on Chase's nose helped Oswald determine that Chase and Bear are the same dog. (Oswald notes that the question of ownership could have easily and definitively answered if Hanson-Fleming had paid as little as about $40 for a microchip).

Oswald also found no evidence that Biggs followed Multnomah County animal code, which lays out a process that must be followed to take ownership. The code requires that the finder file a "found report" with animal services and publish notice in the newspaper once a week for at least two weeks. If no one claims ownership after 180 days, the finder can be declared the new owner.

In a written ruling emailed out late Tuesday, Oswald concluded that since he couldn't find any information "to indicate that (Biggs) attempted to find the owner," Hanson-Fleming is the dog's rightful owner.

Hanson-Fleming read the ruling on his computer, surrounding by more than a dozen friends and family members. He felt relief, but, he noted, "It's still up in the air."

Prosecutors could charge Biggs with a crime. Regardless, Hanson-Fleming plans to sue.

Biggs, however, is one step ahead of him. At 3 p.m. Wednesday, her attorney filed a suit on her behalf against Hanson-Fleming, asking a Multnomah County Circuit judge to deem her the legal owner. In her suit, she claims that Hanson-Fleming has "threatened to impair (her) full enjoyment" of "her own dog."

She claims Hanson-Fleming was negligent in allowing the dog to run away and says she followed Benton County animal code.

Biggs is also asking the judge to force Hanson-Fleming to pay her attorney's fees.

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