Cat custody battle: Who owns a lost cat?

[Nugget T. Brain, The OG]

The way Seamus has been acting lately, if this happened to me and they called me talking about "I think this lady has your cat" I'd be like "Listen, if she wants him that's fine by me, tell her good luck and God speed. No backsies."

Little shitgoblin. That was MY HOT POCKET, SEAMUS. MINE.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2023 10:00:57 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Sept 7, 2023 9:31:54 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Look, the owner who had him for a few months needs to give it over to the person who had the cat ten years. I will say, the 10-year owner at least found the cat when the few months owner never did. 

False - they found the cat after it was scanned by a vet. Plus, for the rest of your statement, the chip was still functional and had the correct information when it was finally scanned.

So, the ten year owner obviously knows it was in custody. So they found it while in the shelter or where ever it is being held. SO yes, the 10 year owner found the cat and figured out what happened to it. That's why she knows where it is and wants the cat back.

The original owner never found their cat. They were tracked down and contacted after ten years. 

[InBetweenDays]

Sept 7, 2023 12:50:05 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Sept 7, 2023 10:00:57 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

False - they found the cat after it was scanned by a vet. Plus, for the rest of your statement, the chip was still functional and had the correct information when it was finally scanned.

So, the ten year owner obviously knows it was in custody. So they found it while in the shelter or where ever it is being held. SO yes, the 10 year owner found the cat and figured out what happened to it. That's why she knows where it is and wants the cat back.

The original owner never found their cat. They were tracked down and contacted after ten years. 

But you can't fault the original owner for never finding the cat. That doesn't mean she didn't try just as hard as the current owner. 

[tamarindy]

Sept 7, 2023 13:29:08 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Sept 7, 2023 12:50:05 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

So, the ten year owner obviously knows it was in custody. So they found it while in the shelter or where ever it is being held. SO yes, the 10 year owner found the cat and figured out what happened to it. That's why she knows where it is and wants the cat back.

The original owner never found their cat. They were tracked down and contacted after ten years. 

But you can't fault the original owner for never finding the cat. That doesn't mean she didn't try just as hard as the current owner. 

I preface this by acknowledging that I realize the law may say differently (which I personally think would be fucked up in this case).

In the end, this one of those things where common sense and a sense of humanity should prevail.

This cat has had a home with a family for over a decade. Can you imagine the pain in having your fur family member taken away like this after that long? Is there really any argument that the cat would have a better rest of his life with someone who lost him that long ago? That it’s better to have a senior cat adapt to a new home rather than keep his own?

If this lady pursues this she should be ashamed.

[Patsy Baloney]

Original owner’s pet situation is stressing me out. That’s quite a pack.

I feel bad for Maui/Bob getting dumped into that.

[aurora]

Sept 7, 2023 9:31:54 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Sept 7, 2023 0:09:25 GMT -5 aurora said:

Both of our dogs were surrendered to shelters by their former families. The first was 5 years old and for the first few months she was obviously looking for them when we were out and about, apparently wanting to find them again. For those months, I think she'd have chosen to go back if she could have.

I didn't want to tear up this morning but here we are. I'm a foster and I never thought my fosters would miss me. And now I realize my bottle babies are likely attached to me as they grow up since I'm the only human/mommy they remember. 
... 

Aww, I'm sure they do miss you, and that's sad, but eventually (like my dogs) they will end up bonded with their forever families. And even missing you for a while after the foster time ends has got to be less stressful than ending up in the shelter for weeks or months.

[InBetweenDays]

Sept 7, 2023 13:40:03 GMT -5 tamarindy said:

Sept 7, 2023 13:29:08 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

But you can't fault the original owner for never finding the cat. That doesn't mean she didn't try just as hard as the current owner. 

I preface this by acknowledging that I realize the law may say differently (which I personally think would be fucked up in this case).

In the end, this one of those things where common sense and a sense of humanity should prevail.

This cat has had a home with a family for over a decade. Can you imagine the pain in having your fur family member taken away like this after that long? Is there really any argument that the cat would have a better rest of his life with someone who lost him that long ago? That it’s better to have a senior cat adapt to a new home rather than keep his own?

If this lady pursues this she should be ashamed.

I am not arguing one way or the other. If I were the original owner I would very likely ask to receive an occasional photo or update on the cat but tell the current owner to just be sure and provide it a good home.

I was just responding to this (and her earlier) post that implied that the original owner didn't do enough to find her cat. And because the current owner found the cat but the original owner didn't, the current owner is a better owner.

I lost a cat years ago. He was 16 so I think he likely snuck out of the house to run away to die somewhere but I'll never know. We checked the shelter, posted on Facebook and NextDoor, walked the neighborhood, etc. for months. We never found him but that certainly doesn't mean we didn't try.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2023 13:29:08 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Sept 7, 2023 12:50:05 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

So, the ten year owner obviously knows it was in custody. So they found it while in the shelter or where ever it is being held. SO yes, the 10 year owner found the cat and figured out what happened to it. That's why she knows where it is and wants the cat back.

The original owner never found their cat. They were tracked down and contacted after ten years. 

But you can't fault the original owner for never finding the cat. That doesn't mean she didn't try just as hard as the current owner. 

You are right. I guess social media was different back then as well. But I'm side eyeing the original owner because of her go fund me to get a cat back that she owned for months and the cat lived with someone else for years. That shit is fucked up. Also, I realize people fall on hard times but she doesn't have a reliable car and multiple other animals relying on her. I realize this sounds like a no skittles for poor people situation but she's not financially able to get her cat back alone. I think that's why I'm judgey.  Just let the cat go back to it's home. 

[MixedBerryJam]

One other thought that I had today (I haven’t read the article since this morning and I only skimmed it anyway) but wasn’t the cat an obvious stray when he was found and brought into the vet originally? It would be negligent for the vet not to have scanned for a chip at that point imho. Very strong cat belongs with new fam in NC. I think the article mentioned he was Scruffy and skinny?

[agnes]

Sept 7, 2023 9:53:33 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Sept 6, 2023 12:53:27 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

It was super common to have cats chipped 10 years ago. It wasn't the dark ages. And after that, the cat has had to have been seen by other vets who probably also scanned for the chip. She's lying and didn't want to give the cat up, so she just ignored it until she couldn't.

Is it common for vets to scan for chips on pets brought in by their owners? I've never heard of that. 

nope. At least not any of the vets I’ve been to over the past 20 years.

[livinitup]

I just made a vet appointment to get my 1 1/2 yo cat chipped. I don’t know why it wasn’t offered. I never thought to ask.

[basilosaurus]

Sept 6, 2023 16:33:57 GMT -5 tamarindy said:

Sept 6, 2023 16:29:13 GMT -5 oliverboliverbutt said:

Why shouldn't a person call the humane society/take a cat to the shelter it it's outside roaming? 

I really think that outdoor cats make it harder for lost cats to find their way home- if I see a cat roaming I have no way of knowing if it "should" be outside, it escaped and someone is looking for it, or it's a stray- so I probably just ignore it and hope it's not someone'e beloved missing cat. Because people don't do that with dogs anymore, I can stop and call A/C or grab a dog if I see it loose, and it's much more likely to get home.

That’s why, ideally, people would keep cats indoors in the first place. Then if you saw one not ear-tipped, you’d know it wasn’t a colony cat. Not the world we live in, unfortunately. 😞

I've adopted quite a few stays since I've been here. I got all of the de sexed. I was on car #4 before they even asked if I wanted the ear clipped. All at the same clinic.

That was the cat they shaved and cut into before realizing there were no girl parts. That was the third time they saw this cat. And that's apparently the best clinic. Until I had this experience, having only had dogs, I wouldn't have even known this was a thing.

[tamarindy]

Sept 9, 2023 3:26:50 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Sept 6, 2023 16:33:57 GMT -5 tamarindy said:

That’s why, ideally, people would keep cats indoors in the first place. Then if you saw one not ear-tipped, you’d know it wasn’t a colony cat. Not the world we live in, unfortunately. 😞

I've adopted quite a few stays since I've been here. I got all of the de sexed. I was on car #4 before they even asked if I wanted the ear clipped. All at the same clinic.

That was the cat they shaved and cut into before realizing there were no girl parts. That was the third time they saw this cat. And that's apparently the best clinic. Until I had this experience, having only had dogs, I wouldn't have even known this was a thing.

Yes, it’s mainly reserved for colonies so it makes sense they wouldn’t ask as you were adopting them. I’m a caretaker for several currently, and all ours are tipped. That’s what I meant when I said it would work if people kept their owned cats indoors.

[MixedBerryJam]

Sept 9, 2023 3:26:50 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Sept 6, 2023 16:33:57 GMT -5 tamarindy said:

That’s why, ideally, people would keep cats indoors in the first place. Then if you saw one not ear-tipped, you’d know it wasn’t a colony cat. Not the world we live in, unfortunately. 😞

I've adopted quite a few stays since I've been here. I got all of the de sexed. I was on car #4 before they even asked if I wanted the ear clipped. All at the same clinic.

That was the cat they shaved and cut into before realizing there were no girl parts. That was the third time they saw this cat. And that's apparently the best clinic. Until I had this experience, having only had dogs, I wouldn't have even known this was a thing.

Wait just a sec here. Are you saying a vet commenced the spay operation and didn’t realize it wasn’ta girl cat until they were inside? That’s wild and not normal. Oh wait. That she was already spayed? I could see that happening, I guess. But I think they only clip the ear as part of TSR programs

[basilosaurus]

Sept 9, 2023 8:45:03 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Sept 9, 2023 3:26:50 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I've adopted quite a few stays since I've been here. I got all of the de sexed. I was on car #4 before they even asked if I wanted the ear clipped. All at the same clinic.

That was the cat they shaved and cut into before realizing there were no girl parts. That was the third time they saw this cat. And that's apparently the best clinic. Until I had this experience, having only had dogs, I wouldn't have even known this was a thing.

Wait just a sec here. Are you saying a vet commenced the spay operation and didn’t realize it wasn’ta girl cat until they were inside? That’s wild and not normal. Oh wait. That she was already spayed? I could see that happening, I guess. But I think they only clip the ear as part of TSR programs

Commenced operation. His balls were apparently tiny. I certainly thought it was female. Cat was born in my home (a stray pregnant adopted us about a week before giving birth) so had been going to this vet since birth for shots before being old enough to spay.

Apparently it is standard to clip locally. I've since met people active in the stray mitigation community (it's a massive problem), and they were surprised it wasn't offered for the others even though we use the same clinic.

[babsbunny]

Hugs InBetweenDays. I'm sorry.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Sept 6, 2023 10:22:06 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Sept 6, 2023 10:05:53 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Yeah, I'm team the pet belongs to the person who has cared for it the most.

Yeah, in this case I’d hope the previous owner would recognize that the cat had a new loving family, and would be traumatized by being returned to someone who owned him for a few months ten years ago.

Also, I’m surprised that microchipping is somehow now legal proof of pet ownership? It’s actually not easy to change the data on a microchip or update registration if you assume ownership of someone else’s pet (without them initiating the transfer). And vets advise against having two microchips. So I’m not really sure how the new owner could have established ownership via microchip in this situation. And, I’m not a lawyer, but I highly doubt that microchips meet the legal standard for establishing ownership.

Yes, we've had issues with 2 different chips in 2 different dogs.

Our 1st dog was a rescue, and we got her when she was about 2, and she apparently had 2 different chips, although the vet couldn't always find one of them.  So one of them was registered to us after we got her, but every once in a while, the other one would pop up occasionally when they would routinely scan her (I don't remember why they even would though, this was a while ago) and they would get confused.

Our 2nd dog is also a rescue but we got her as a puppy, but the rescue chipped her, and gave us directions for registering the chip to us, but we were never able to successfully able to complete that.  So I'm guessing her chip is still registered to the rescue she came from, although hopefully they have records of us adopting her so that would never actually be a real issue (we've had her for 7 years now), and the rescue is located out of state and was hard to contact so we never pursued it after the 1st time asking for help and it not working.

[oliverboliverbutt]

Sept 6, 2023 22:33:28 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Sept 6, 2023 16:29:13 GMT -5 oliverboliverbutt said:

Why shouldn't a person call the humane society/take a cat to the shelter it it's outside roaming? 

Because it comes to you every day at the same time from the same neighbor's back yard and then goes back every evening when they call for it?  It's been doing that for years before they moved in, Do you really call the shelter on every outdoor cat you see?

There are about 5 outdoor cats in our neighborhood. I recognize all of them and would never just snatch one up. Personally, I worry about them with all the coyotes and wish they stayed home for that reason. 

The story didn't say that it came and went from the same house every day. Of course that's different in terms of hoping to help a cat find it's home or get a home. But if a cat keeps showing up in your yard and you don't want it to keep using your garden as a litter box and killing things, I still think turning it in would be fair game. Hopefully after a conversation with the owners, but even then. Maybe people will make a better choice after having to pick it up a few times.

I don't call the shelter on every outdoor cat I see. I actually never have- instead I just worry that this is the cat that's actually lost or stray not the too common outdoor cat - but from the two threads on this board it seems like maybe lots fewer people would permanently lose pets if people did.

[fernweh]

Looks like the cat was returned to the original owner.

myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/cat-at-center-of-north-carolina-custody-battle-to-be-returned-to-owner-in-kansas/amp/

[tamarindy]

Sept 21, 2023 14:59:05 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Looks like the cat was returned to the original owner.

myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/cat-at-center-of-north-carolina-custody-battle-to-be-returned-to-owner-in-kansas/amp/

Ugh what a terrible update. Poor Bob.

[whattheheck]

If the cat was brought in by neighbor’s how did the second “owner” find out the whereabouts of the cat?

[Deleted]

Sept 21, 2023 16:40:45 GMT -5 whattheheck said:

If the cat was brought in by neighbor’s how did the second “owner” find out the whereabouts of the cat?

I’m not sure, but I assume they called around to vets or local shelters to see if anyone had brought Maui in.

[sarapocalypse]

This story is somewhat local to me and I saw that the drama continues...

www.wral.com/story/emergency-injunction-filed-to-stop-bob-the-cat-from-going-back-to-Kansas/21059748/?fbclid=IwAR25xpbU6SU8uIN35anLRTzTjZywgYwniTamDcCK6qqiSns-v9gPFoDjWpw

[Vespasia]

Sept 22, 2023 7:22:38 GMT -5 sarapocalypse said:

This story is somewhat local to me and I saw that the drama continues...

www.wral.com/story/emergency-injunction-filed-to-stop-bob-the-cat-from-going-back-to-Kansas/21059748/?fbclid=IwAR25xpbU6SU8uIN35anLRTzTjZywgYwniTamDcCK6qqiSns-v9gPFoDjWpw

JFC. From the article:

Bob has FIV, and the injunction points out that it's illegal in the state of Kansas to transport a symptomatic cat. It's also illegal to voluntarily infect other cats, and Holmes allegedly has other cats in her home.

"The FIV-positive cat would infect between four to at least seven inside cats of the defendant," the injunction said.

The injunction said the cat will "most likely be euthanized in Kansas due to an open investigation of Ms. Holmes knowingly attempting to break Kansas law."

Thanks to everyone who posted updates. I tried to find out what had happened a few days ago and was unsuccessful. I definitely think the cat would be best off with the second owner (and that was before the update) so I hope she's successful. 

[fernweh]

Sept 22, 2023 7:22:38 GMT -5 sarapocalypse said:

This story is somewhat local to me and I saw that the drama continues...

www.wral.com/story/emergency-injunction-filed-to-stop-bob-the-cat-from-going-back-to-Kansas/21059748/?fbclid=IwAR25xpbU6SU8uIN35anLRTzTjZywgYwniTamDcCK6qqiSns-v9gPFoDjWpw

While I do think Bob should stay with the home he has known for the last 10 years the stories aren’t matching. Original she said she didn’t know if the vet checked for a microchip and now she is saying she had him checked and it wasn’t found.

No matter who wins Bob loses. The poor guy is 14 years old just let him stay in the home he knows instead of going back to a place he hasn’t seen in 10 years or continuing to be detained while this legal battle plays out.

[tacokick]

Sept 22, 2023 7:38:25 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Sept 22, 2023 7:22:38 GMT -5 sarapocalypse said:

This story is somewhat local to me and I saw that the drama continues...

www.wral.com/story/emergency-injunction-filed-to-stop-bob-the-cat-from-going-back-to-Kansas/21059748/?fbclid=IwAR25xpbU6SU8uIN35anLRTzTjZywgYwniTamDcCK6qqiSns-v9gPFoDjWpw

While I do think Bob should stay with the home he has known for the last 10 years the stories aren’t matching. Original she said she didn’t know if the vet checked for a microchip and now she is saying she had him checked and it wasn’t found.

No matter who wins Bob loses. The poor guy is 14 years old just let him stay in the home he knows instead of going back to a place he hasn’t seen in 10 years or continuing to be detained while this legal battle plays out.

It could be the stories aren’t matching or it’s just sloppy reporting. They didn’t seem to talk to her for this update and are just summarizing what has been said in other articles and other outlets. A lot of nuance gets lost that way.

[tamarindy]

Sept 22, 2023 7:38:25 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Sept 22, 2023 7:22:38 GMT -5 sarapocalypse said:

This story is somewhat local to me and I saw that the drama continues...

www.wral.com/story/emergency-injunction-filed-to-stop-bob-the-cat-from-going-back-to-Kansas/21059748/?fbclid=IwAR25xpbU6SU8uIN35anLRTzTjZywgYwniTamDcCK6qqiSns-v9gPFoDjWpw

While I do think Bob should stay with the home he has known for the last 10 years the stories aren’t matching. Original she said she didn’t know if the vet checked for a microchip and now she is saying she had him checked and it wasn’t found.

No matter who wins Bob loses. The poor guy is 14 years old just let him stay in the home he knows instead of going back to a place he hasn’t seen in 10 years or continuing to be detained while this legal battle plays out.

I think this case is my hill to die on because honestly none of that matters to me. Bob has lived in his home for essentially his whole life and is an elderly cat with FIV (I have four of these in my home currently). Doing this to him is actual cruelty IMO, even if it doesn’t fit a definition within legal bounds. Fuck the Kansas lady.

[Deleted]

Bob deserved better than this. Once again, humans treat animals as objects and the animal pays the price.