Woman wants abandoned cat back

Savvy_Sue

Gavin83 said:

I appreciate the comments of the other posters here but ultimately if this person can prove original ownership of the cat (which it sounds like they might be able to) I think you're in a difficult situation. Were they to take you to court and prove ownership I think you'd likely be forced to hand the cat back.

But what are the chances the original owner would either want or have the resources to go to court - over a cat which won't be providing any more kittens! 

Gavin83

Savvy_Sue said:

Gavin83 said:

I appreciate the comments of the other posters here but ultimately if this person can prove original ownership of the cat (which it sounds like they might be able to) I think you're in a difficult situation. Were they to take you to court and prove ownership I think you'd likely be forced to hand the cat back.

But what are the chances the original owner would either want or have the resources to go to court - over a cat which won't be providing any more kittens! 

Who knows. That’s for the OP to decide. However it’s worth flagging up the other potential possibilities.

However I’m not entirely sure it would just be that. I see no reason why the ‘owner’ couldn’t look to sue the OP for the value of the kittens + loss of future earnings by having the cat spayed. After all, if this was something like a car and the OP had modified it beyond repair and sold a bunch of parts for profit they’d be liable. In the eyes of the law pets are property and therefore I see no reason why this would be treated any differently.

I’m also really not sure on the legal position of spaying someone else’s cat. It’s fine for everyone to suggest the OP goes and gets it sorted ASAP but I doubt they’re aware either. It’s probably worth investigating before going ahead and doing it.

sheramber

If the cat had been handed in to a welfare organisation it would be held for 7 days and then rrehomed.

KxMx

I volunteer for Cats Protection, found cats/strays have to be advertised for 14 days before rehoming is allowed. 

TBagpuss

Gavin83 said:

I appreciate the comments of the other posters here but ultimately if this person can prove original ownership of the cat (which it sounds like they might be able to) I think you're in a difficult situation. Were they to take you to court and prove ownership I think you'd likely be forced to hand the cat back.

Cats in the eyes of the law are considered property. Therefore I also doubt you'd have any rights to a refund of the vets bills either, in the same way if you took my 'abandoned' car and spent thousands at a mechanic you wouldn't be due that back. I'm not even sure of the legal situation of spaying someone elses cat nor how the kitten situation would work, given they'd likely claim ownership over the kittens as well.

Ultimately I think you need to tread carefully. The best outcome for you would be if they just went away. How you achieve that is your choice. If they were really determined to get the cat back I think you might struggle far more than others on here are suggesting.

You are correct about them being properrty, however, from the original post, it looks as though OP did eveything they could to ty to identify the original owner 

". We did our best to find out from Facebook if it belonged to anyone, we had no takers. We kept an eye on it initially at night in the garden to see if it went to any houses, but it remained in the same places for sleeping. We spoke to a charity who advised feeding and taking them in as none locally would take them in due to demand. A neighbour said that there was one house that had kittens recently, but they were concerned about its welfare having given birth three times in 18 months, but we left a note for them asking them to ring us about it. As a street on social media we agreed this cat and kitten needed attention in the meantime, especially with all of the hot weather, and pledged to get it spayed if nobody came forward.

We spoke to a vet who confirmed it had a microchip but it was registered to Spain and had no details on it. They also put an appeal out for someone to come forward. We heard nothing, but they asked us to keep the cat in because she was ready to give birth in a matter of weeks. She was in need of lots of food and drink and also had a UTI, they said if nobody came forward would we take her on and pay for her treatment."

While OP isn't a chairty, it looks as though, like the chaoties do, they did advertise for the owner and then made the entirely reasonable assumption that the cat had been abandoned. The owners also appear to have admitted that they left the country for an extended period of time.

I think the liklihood of the former owner spneding the money to try to get the cat back are quite low - also, they are only entitled to be put back in the positon they would have been in had the OP not intervened - which by the sounds of it, wouldmean being recompensed for the value of a stray cat with a UTI. Would iteven have survided without OP?

. It may be worth asking the vet what they think the cat's changes would have been had it not been treated. 

TBagpuss

just to add, if she still have lots of other cats I would report that to the RSPCA to see whether they can visit and check on them. 

theoretica

The cat was property - but was abandoned, which I would argue is giving up ownership (as well as neglecting its welfare).