Gothamist: Law and Cat Order: The Kitty Dispute Spills Over

bdlilrbt

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:58:02 -0500

The story. Years later now and Oliver is still with me. Still very Happy, and healthy as he was when I first took him home as a kitten. I don't know why, but I began reading the stories online today for the first time in a couple years. The news stories, the blog comments. The quotes and misquotes of me, and I’m sure other people. It was funny to me that this ever got so big. And reading it I have seen the story re-told several different ways. Some say Oliver was an indoor outdoor cat, or that I found out he was still alive after he was missing for a year. One story said I was in a race against time to save his life. The truth is, I was 22 years old. I was gone for one night to a poetry festival and was living in Manhattan with a blind roommate. Oliver was totally and indoor cat, and had never been lost before. THE DAY I came back and found him missing I called the city and reported him missing, as well as calling any shelter I could find. I put up flyers. A neighbor called me and said she believed a local woman who “rescued” cats picked him up off of my front stoop and took him to the local nonprofit shelter. I called the shelter and they said they didn’t take in strays, that they rescued the animals from kill shelters. That was two days after he’d gone missing. Three days after that I went into that shelter with his picture and I discovered they had taken him in, because they had been taking cats from the woman in my neighborhood for years( a sort of special arrangement among cat lovers). He was adopted from the animal shelter three days after he had gone missing. The shelter took some time doing it and had to be urged daily by me, but finally, 5-8 days after he was adopted out, they notified the woman who had adopted him that he was my cat. She said they had bonded and she couldn’t give him back. It took a year in court. But he is back with me. Whether you think it’s right or wrong, that is what happened. I’m glad to have him with me. I’m now twenty-six and I’ve had him since I was 18. We share the same ( or very close to the same) birthday. He represents something very familial to me.

dog owner

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 16:19:35 -0500

Someone who is careless enough to lose their pet AND not call the shelters within 48 hours should not have a pet, period. My understanding is that all the law requires is that the owner contact the shelter(s) within 48 hours -- it is NOT burdensome.

cat lover

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:22:57 -0500

How sad that there are thousands of animals put to sleep every day in this city, and these people are fighting over one cat.

Dave

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 19:02:03 -0500

Microchipping your pet is safe and a good idea, but make sure you register your pet with the ASPCA's program, Home Again (the largest national microchip producer) is "creating their own database" which means they will only ID pets with their microchips.

Alison

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 17:44:12 -0500

About a year ago my cat (who resides with my mom) took off. This has happened before but she comes back within a couple of weeks and we refer to it as her vacation. She's an indoor/outdoor cat and we can't convert her so this are the risks you take. Anyway, 6 weeks go by and she's found wandering in our neighborhood. We rejoice happy that she is alive. Two days later my mom notices missing signs up in the neigborhood with pictures of our cat. So, I called the folks and it was ridiculous. At first they tried to get me to give up my cat, then they asked if they could cat-sit, then when I ageed to the catsitting, they asked if they could come see the cat right then. The kicker, my mom got bitter with my sisters and I for only visiting her to see the cat so she gave our cat to the finders! At least we know she is safe and loved but my mom gave away my cat. Harsh.

A.

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 14:11:32 -0500

Nice cheap shot, Josie. She's a lawyer, so it figures? How about you tell that to all the animal rights lawyers around the city and all the private sector lawyers who represent the ASPCA and every other welfare agency imaginable pro bono?

ryan

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:54:14 -0500

I feel a scrooge allegory coming on... you will be visited by three cat ghosts tonight...

Josie

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:35:20 -0500

I can't believe the second owner wouldn't feel incredibly guilty and want to give the cat back to its original owner. It's pretty heartless to know you have someone else's cat and not want to reunite them. She's a lawyer....figures.

Stacy Horn

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:30:58 -0500

I feel for the woman who adopted the cat, but I can't understand how loving the cat the way she does, she can't understand what the original owner is going through. It would be one thing if the owner was responsible for the cat being lost, if she was somehow careless and perhaps not a great caretaker, but she didn't lose the cat. It's terrible for the second owner, but it's a bizarrely unfeeling response from someone who seems to have so much feeling. Again, I understand why she doesn't want to, but still. That said, I have an adopted cat on my lap as I type. God knows what I would do in the end. I'd like to think I'd do the right thing, but maybe I would be unable to as well.

Toby

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:21:24 -0500

There is also the microchip option. Shelters can "scan" for the chip, and your furry friend can be on your way home to you quicker.

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:20:11 -0500

no one is getting my aspca adopted kitty back they lost her, i found her, MINE!!

bklynd

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 12:06:37 -0500

Make sure you ID your pets (with you home phone #)! We found a very cute Pomeranian wandering the streets a few Decembers ago. No phone # on the tag. It was a Sat. night and we had only about an hour before some faraway animal shelter was closing. We took it back to our apartment and it started to freak out. In a last chance effort before we drove it to the shelter, we put it back on the block we found it, followed it back to its doorstep, and rang the doorbell. Score! It had slipped out when the husband went to work, wife didn't even know it was gone.