ET wrote in message .. .
I drove the 80 miles, and the person never showed up. I went to the police
station, and to officer told me that I had no complaint since if someone
finds a dog wandering around and picks it up, they are doing a public
service and can keep it if they want too.

That's not true. The officer didn't know the applicable laws (very
likely), and/or didn't want to bother dealing with your problem (also
very likely).