Above is the law section 47-3-530 in the state of South Carolina.  I believe from how the story was told to me by Kristal Keaton Butts, this dog was stolen and laws have been broken. As of now we do not have proof but given the fact that the rescue already knew the owner was a breeder, someone had stalked the butts family Facebook. 
Kristal knew he was at the senhelter within hours not days. She communicated with a shelter employee on Christmas Day and was told to pick him up on Friday when they open at noon and he was fine. The next day she checked with the employee and that employee was not working, that employee called another girl at the shelter to get an update. She was still told he was doing fine and pick him up tomorrow.
This part is speculation, I believe the shelter employee that was contacted on the second day told either the rescue coordinator or the manager that was so rude to them on Friday. I believe they were able to find out his owners name and look on the public pictures on Facebook and see the litters of puppies. That’s when it became urgent to get him out before opening. The fact that the rescue already knew there was an owner when they took possession and evidently someone in charge at the shelter knew there was an owner, a law was broken.
In The letter of support from the shelter director, she states that when she got back into town, an employee told her they had been communicating with the family and they were coming to claim their dog. Unfortunately the dog had already been transferred to the rescue before the director found out. He Was actually still in Anderson at liberty Highway vet when they first came to the shelter to claim him. This information was withheld from them by the shelter employees, one of the shelter employees most likely transported him to liberty Highway as this is common practice if a rescue is not local.
I am sure there are screenshots out there and this was probably discussed on Facebook. My hope is that someone has a heart and will anonymously send those screenshots.