She Found A Cat And Took It To The Vet To Be Fixed, Even Though The Pet Clearly Had An Owner
This woman runs a non-profit Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for the cats in her area– catching any felines and funding any medical attention that they need out of her own pocket.
She honestly just loves helping out the cats in her area. But, she is not a large-scale operation, and many of the cats she helps are unable to be rehomed.
“So, I fix them and release them. Get them their shots and hope for the best,” she said.
Anyway, she was recently called in to visit an area that was overrun with orange cats. Apparently, the felines were everywhere, and she wound up turning most of the situation over to professionals.
However, she did manage to snag three very sweet cats. Two of them were skinny, a bit beaten up, yet friendly despite being quite terrified. And the third cat was reportedly “a little gent.”
In fact, the male cat was well-groomed, wearing a collar that had a fish pattern and was even a bit tubby. So, it was clear the cat had an owner, and her plan was to locate the cat’s parents.
“My plan was to find his parents and drop him off with a warning to keep him in due to the large amount of traps being set,” she recalled.
But then, as she was transporting the pet, the cat actually just started spraying all over the inside of her car! So, it became clear that the cat had not been fixed– which she did not realize before due to his long hair.
At that point, she was forced to debate two options. She could either take the cat home as planned or get him fixed with the rest of the felines.
Krakenimages.com – Stock.Adobe.com, illustrative purposes only, not the actual cat
Upon thinking it over, she reasoned that the cat was both an indoor and outdoor cat according to his collar tag.
Plus, with so many strays in her area, she was sure that at least some of the stray felines were carrying his genetics.
That’s why she ultimately decided to take the cat with her and get him fixed. While there, she also learned the cat did not have a microchip, so she called the number on the tag.
Afterward, she informed the pet’s parents that she had the cat and provided time slots for when he could be picked up or dropped off.
Once the cat’s owners found out what happened, though, they actually went off on her. They apparently cursed her out, accused her of being a kidnapper, and blamed her for being the reason that their child had nightmares about the cat going missing.
Then, the owners showed up less than 20 minutes later to pick up the feline.
At that point, she really tried to explain herself– pointing out how, if the cat was going to be outside, then he needed to be fixed.
Regardless, the owners did not care and claimed she should have contacted them immediately before making any decisions.
“I also spoke to my rescue friend, who said I was in the wrong. Even though we know we are technically in the right, we didn’t have the legal ground to do that, and it wasn’t my decision to make,” she revealed.
So, she did end up apologizing to the cat’s owners. But she was also forced to block their numbers since the cat’s mother started badmouthing her on Facebook and reaching out to people she knows.
Things are also still a bit tense between her and her rescue friend. And on the one hand, she knows that she did cross a line– even if it was intended for the greater good.
“But I have a duty to care for stray cats. Me knowing an unneutered male was roaming free and not doing anything about it was a concern for said stray cats,” she reasoned.
Regardless, people in her community are finding out about the situation and starting to take sides. So now, she’s been left wondering whether fixing the cat that was clearly owned was really the wrong thing to do.
Is the amount of unfixed stray cats a major problem? Even so, was it her decision to make to have the cat fixed? Do the owners have a right to be upset or not? How would you have handled this situation?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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