Keep the kitten. They didn't take care of it, didn't keep it contained, didn't look for it when it went missing, it's yours now.

 

Does the adoption contract you signed say anything about returning a cat to its previous owner if they turn up? Is there a protocol for this?

Related question: How much legal crap are you willing to go through for this kitten?

 

As far as I know, there is no legal obligation to give back the kitten. Every single time I've talked to the shelter, they've reassured me that. It really is more of a moral issue on my part, but largely I want to make sure the kitten goes to the best home possible.
If they were supposedly treating his infection, I don't know why it was so bad when I got him, and why it cleared up in a matter of days after taking antibitoics and I dont understand all their lies and excuses as to how a young, sick, unaltered kitten went missing.

They say this is very unusual and its never happened before where they've adopted out an animal only to find the previous owners.. so there is no protocol really. At this point he is legally mine, so there shouldn't be any legal trouble.
If they're too cheap to take care of the kitten properly, I can't imagine they'd want to go through the trouble of taking legal action.

 

If he isn't microchipped and he was given away to this person - I am assuming there is no papers that state that X is the owner of this cat?

Keep the kitten! For the sake of the poor little cat! It sounds like they really didn't care much about the little bugger to begin with!

Please, think about how much you have done for him in the short time you have had him vs the original owner. It's obvious in my opinion!


P.S. Do you have a picture?

 

No brainer...you keep that kitten!

 

Keep the kitten. Don't feel guilty. The previous owners will probably have another one soon.

 

They lied to me and said they spent LOTS of money to buy this "expensive" bengal mix (I found the breeder they were talking about and pictures of the kitten, the guy gave them all away for free)
5. They lied to me and said the kitten was on lots of medication that they paid lots of money for and would die without it (I took him to the vet and confirmed he was healthy, other than the URI, which I paid $25 for antibiotics for)

I'm confused. Did you speak only with the shelter staff or also with the previous owner? And did the shelter give you his contact info or did they give him yours?

The reason I ask is because our local shelter, whatever faults it may have, never ever gives out contact information of adopters. If a previous owner wants to appeal an adoption, the shelter staff acts as intermediary. Ideally, there is no contact between previous and current owners.

In any case, keep the kitten. The previous owner neglected him, and now the kitty has a better home.

 

I was speaking to the shelter who gave me this information on behalf of the previous owner. I guess I could have phrased that a little better! And yeah they are absolutely not allowed to give me any information the previous owner does not allow.

If he isn't microchipped and he was given away to this person - I am assuming there is no papers that state that X is the owner of this cat?

Keep the kitten! For the sake of the poor little cat! It sounds like they really didn't care much about the little bugger to begin with!

Please, think about how much you have done for him in the short time you have had him vs the original owner. It's obvious in my opinion!


P.S. Do you have a picture?

here's a few pictures

Keep the kitten. Don't feel guilty. The previous owners will probably have another one soon.

Unfortunately true :/ she was saying its her children's kitten which made me feel worse, but obviously kittens are not toys... and whatever next animal she gets will make her kids just as happy... and the animal just as miserable


thanks to everyone for your input... its reassuring and very helpful!

 

As long as you have paperwork from the shelter stating that you adopted the cat, he's yours. It's not like you scooped him up off a sidewalk and decided to keep him, yk? And I'm curious - did the shelter have permission to give out your contact information? I would be furious about that.

 

Please keep the kitten if you can, you have shown this little guy more love & care in the short time he has been with you than the months he was with the previous owner. Fingers crossed that you can keep him :huddle:

 

Definitely keep him.

It sounds like his previous owners are just throwing a fit. It doesn't make sense why they were willing to lie to you about his value and his medical history in order to get him back, but they weren't willing to get him microchipped or keep him collared, or keep him inside in the first place, or look for him as soon as he went missing, or treat his medical issues. If they really care about that kitten, they sure fooled me.

The poor guy will be much better off with you, and I think keeping him rather than returning him to neglectful owners is the ethically correct thing to do.

 

I think it is a moral issue if you given the kitten back.
"Owners" like that should be revoked a "license to keep pets"

 

That's not even a Bengal lol. He looks almost exactly like my cat! Dark tabby stripes. I'll have to post a picture of him later.

 

Oh I know. I mean I don't know much about cat breeds or anything but when I went to the shelter he was just listed as a tabby and I didn't make anything of it.
I think the people claiming to have bengals are kind of like people claiming to have wolfdogs when they have husky/shepherd mixes or something lol. Can't visually tell the difference and like the idea of having an "exotic" animal. I looked up bengals shortly after they told me he was an expensive bengal mix and yeah, definitely not a bengal.

 

Aww!! Adorable!!! What a wittle cutiepie!!!!
Rub them little ears for me and keep him with you! You are obviously a very good, kind person and I have no doubt that he is better off with you!

Please, please, PLEASE keep him and spoil his stripes off!!!

 

Aw thank you I intend to spoil him as much as all the other animals here get spoiled! My babies only get the best I can offer!

 

Well if their missing cat is supposedly on expensive medication that they'd die without and the cat you have is perfectly healthy without said medication,, obviously it's not the same cat.

There is absolutely no moral issue with you keeping the kitten and spoiling it's stripes off.

 

Well its definitely their kitten. The SPCA sent me photos of him from the owner. But thats the thing.. they seem like they were lying about a lot in order to try to entice me to give him back. And it also bugs me... if your kitten is so sick and will die without medication, why did it take you a week to call the shelter?

 

Oh I figured they were lying about it. That would just be my snarky-a** response back.

 

Ha! Well they lied about a lot of things, if it weren't for the picture of the kitten, I would've assumed they were lying about everything

 

Here's a pic of mine!

He's a rescue as well. Found him in the engine compartment of my car when he was a kitten....There's a small shelf by the coolant tank and the wheel well just big enough. Pretty sure I brought him back all the way from LA (2 hour drive), and I darn near accidentally killed him because I didn't know he was there. Luckily he has a loud mouth and I was able to find him when my car started to meow. Nursed him back to health and had to keep him.

Even having been through all that, he's the sweetest cat ever.

 

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW
I see he gets along fine with your pup too haha
That's awesome though. I got in the habit of checking around my car for cats since all the ones in my previous neighbourhood loved to sleep under and inside different areas of my vehicle... unfortunately sometimes you just can't see them either, especially if they slink off somewhere you wouldn't notice.
Glad he was a loud mouth and got himself a good home!

 

I know the shelters do their best, but due to his infection, he would have likely been put down the next week.

Did the other family contact the shelter before his time would have been up? Would they have bothered to if the other neighbor hadn't been told that was where the kitten was?

They likely knew he was sick when they let him out, were they even treating him? I'd want to see vet records. If they weren't then what's the odds that they'll get him medical care if he gets sick in the future?

They're letting him out to wander, is he up to date on all his shots?

Personally I would just keep the kitten and sleep well at night.

 

No the family never bothered to contact the shelter and I sincerely doubt they would have bothered without the neighbour talking to them. That's what bothers me. If it was my sick kitten who got away, I'd be looking for him everywhere. Most small towns have a local animal control that will keep the animal if they look owned, or take them to the shelter if not. Animal control would've been the smartest place to check first.
Shelter has him UTD on shots, not sure if he was before.
Their excuse was that they didn't have a working phone for a few days.. which is hilarious because I don't own a phone and I get by just fine. There's many alternatives like sending emails to shelters, knocking on doors, asking around, putting flyers up locally, etc. I can even make calls using a gmail account when I need to. There are plenty of ways they could've tried much harder to avoid this entire situation.

 

I'd say keep the cat, which I am figuring you already decided.
IMO, they didn't take any pro active methods to be sure that the kitten was safe (no microchip and no tags) Also, it doesn't seem like they contacted the shelter when he first went "missing" if thats what happened, which is what most pet owners would do firstly.

I always try to remember to do whats in the best interest of the animal, sure it may have been a child's pet but if the parents weren't up to the responsibility and it was a young kid, thats not always the best environment for the animal.

 

Really pleased you have decided to keep him :thumbsup: he deserves a lovely family to care for him. Have you had any problems since telling the rescue you are keeping him?

 

No issues. Never heard back from the shelter... but I assume everything is okay. And thank you, Im glad I decided to keep him too