Lady in my neighborhood has an outdoor cat and she's been out of town for a few weeks. I guess she didn't let anyone know to take care of him or leave enough food out because I found him starving so I've been feeding him. Is he my cat now? At what point is it OK to steal him?
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@Gingerblast My cat is very much loved an looked after, but he does go round the neighbours pretending to be starving. He miaows and begs for food. I have actually had to ‘out’ him on fb to stop people feeding him!
@Gingerblast Out of town for several weeks? Is the neighbor actually OK?
No he is NOT your cat & it is never OK to steal someone's pet. The lady could have been hospitalised, imprisoned, rendered homeless or died so unless you know for certain, avoid making any presumptions. A cat can be emaciated because he is ill. Your civic duty is to take the animal to a vet or animal shelter to check if he is micro-chipped & get a professional to decide what is wrong with him. If he is micro-chipped then the vet will contact the owner. If they can't get hold of them then the micro-chip people will send a registered post letter to the owner who has one month in which to reply. If they don't reply then you can fill in an adoption form to make the cat legally yours. In the meantime, I would try to contact the lady by all means. This can include questioning her neighbours, putting an advert out, alerting the Municipal Police & local animal sanctuary. If you genuinely believe that the animal is suffering from neglect then you can report it to the police but I would advise you to get an animal charity involved so as not to be accused of defamation. Kind Regards 😽 #Cats #AnimalCruelty #RSPCA #cattheft
@Gingerblast You could probably call a local humane society about cats that have been abandoned in negligent conditions - though you might wind up getting the lady in trouble.
@Gingerblast I take care of nearly a dozen feral cats, half of them friendly. Do they have a clipped ear by chance?