Marisa is right. The woman could simply tell the animal control agent that the dog comes in as needed and at night, and if it looks healthy and well taken care of, they typically leave them, at least thats how it is my state. Also, when animal control takes a dog, if no one adopts him from the pound, its straight to the gas chamber for him. Not sure if thats true everywhere, to be fair, but in the state and county I live in, thats exactly how it goes down.
Treegirl- naturally if you arent comfortable sneaking the dog out, don't do it. But if you do consider it, I still highly suggest staging it to appear as an escape
Art