I just spent 29 minutes on hold only to get hung up on by the RSPCA.
There’s this neglected cat that I’ve noticed near my work. It comes and cries outside the door of the building for a good hour each day. It has very badly matted fur and appears to have been hit or injured on one of it’s back legs. It’s very friendly but clearly hasn’t seen a vet in a long time.
If I take it to a vet and it isn’t chipped, can I take it on myself?
6 comments
So, cats are considered property, legally speaking.
In order to be in the clear legally, you need to make reasonable efforts to find the owner (if one exists), and if someone comes forward with evidence of owning the cat, you’ll have to surrender it to the proper owner.
If you find evidence that the cat has an owner, taking it as your own would be stealing, regardless of whether it’s being neglected.
Otherwise, if the cat is truly abandoned or doesn’t belong to anyone, you’re free to adopt it.
Try phoning the local vet they should be more responsive
The cat may be too injured to get home to its owners
It wouldn’t be unreasonable of you to take the cat to a vets so they can scan it for a microchip. If there’s an owner, they will be called and they can pick it up, no problemo. If the cat is injured, it can be treated.
Edit, sorry, actually read your question. My mum used to work in a vets and in these situations if you took the cat in and said you’d really like to keep it if they couldn’t find the owner, they would then make attempts to find the owner (microchip, put it on Facebook etc). If no owner, good chance they’d say you can have it. The shelters are full. The vets can’t afford to keep them for any length of time. They just want them to have good homes.
I’m glad you’re asking about scanning for the chip instead of assuming. My sibling’s cat was damn near stolen, as someone had taken to feeding it and then decided that its original owner must have been malnourishing it if it was interested in more food. The other party were on course to move away and take the cat when it finally got resolved and they were forced to back off.
Firstly, this could well be someone’s beloved pet who needs help. They could have got in a delivery van and ended up miles away from home or something.
Please make sure they have food and water if possible and shade from the sun somewhere safe.
You will almost certainly find there is a lost cats facebook group local to your area. Take a few photos of the cat and post it on there first. There will likely be a few kind souls on there with a cat chip scanner who may offer to come over and check the cat for a chip to see if it has an owner and if it’s been notified as missing.
I wouldn’t bother with the RSPCA for this for something like this, search online for a local cat rescue near to you and call them instead. They will be fully geared up to help the cat and give you advice as this is their day to day. Or as you said, if you can safely catch it without injuring the cat or yourself, take it to the vet. The local cat rescue may be better as they will probably have a trap where they can catch the cat safely without any harm.
Thanks for looking out for this cat either way. We lost one of ours last year for two heart wrenching months. She’s back home now thanks to the kindness of a lady who spotted a cat sleeping in her garage who posted it on our local facebook group and we got her home.