Pam Anderson & Rick Salomon -- 'Missing' Dog Has Been Found, But ...

The Pam Anderson/Rick Salomon war over his beloved Rottweiler Bumblebee is almost over -- the dog's been found, but has not been reunited with Rick and his daughters just yet.

According to our sources, Salomon's daughter Tyson and ex-wife E.G. found the dog at a Malibu pet hospital, where he has been boarded for the past five days. Pam previously booted Tyson and the dog from her Malibu home after TMZ posted a story about Rick filing for annulment. Pam had previously claimed Bumblebee was at the groomer, but that turned out to be false.

We're told E.G. and Tyson were not allowed to take Bumblebee home from the hospital because only Rick is the registered owner. Problem is ... Rick is currently working in Las Vegas.

We're told Rick should be back Tuesday night to go collect his dog.

As for why noted animal activist Pam would seemingly use the dog as a pawn in her battle with Rick -- we reached out to Pam for comment ... so far, no word back.