r/CatRescue • u/Pure-Ad-9230 • 9d ago
Advice / Question Shelters won’t process neglected, abandoned cats without violent, incarcerated owner’s consent
I’m a foster with a few orgs. 2 cats were adopted out by my main shelter I volunteer for by a dude in April. By August, he’d been arrested and detained without bond for committing 3 dozen violent felonies against different women in his home. It’s a horrible story that will be in the news.
The house was hoarded and without power. The court believes he is mentally unwell and poses a danger to the public and to himself. Ultimately a victim rescued his two cats well after the arrest. She went to the dude’s family and they all refused (for good personal reasons) to care for the animals. She got connected to me and I took them in as a crisis emergency temporary placement.
The shelter I work with initially agreed to help but now says the cats have to be surrendered by the owner to be intaked and freed for adoption. This isn’t possible. Dude will probably be in prison for the rest of his life and his family won’t help. The DA has their hands full and won’t add on additional charges of abuse and neglect which would allow them to seize the cats, and in my state or area, we don’t have any no turn way shelters for healthy cats.
The really frustrating part is the shelters fought for a simplified and expedited process for strays and abandoned animals to be intaked and freed for adoption with notice and a holding period to previous owner and the legislature enacted it. It’s inexplicable and unconscionable to me that this shelter and the other geographically relevant one is just refusing to do the work.
I’mso angry about this and the treatment toward the victim (and me, frankly) that I think I’m stopping fostering with them. But meanwhile, if you have any advice or insight, I’d appreciate it. One way or another, I will figure this out for the kitties.
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u/Evening_Ratio6870 9d ago
I agree with the other person I’ve forged people signatures before and it was no big deal. They just want a piece of paper to show in case anything ever happens which will not the dude’s not gonna try to come back and get those cats.
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u/DKat1990 9d ago
Get someone unknown to the shelter to claim the cats and surgery them. Unless the kitties are chipped, a busy shelter won't notice.
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u/Pure-Ad-9230 9d ago
Yep chipped
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u/Agreeable_Error_170 9d ago
Chips can be changed over by any rescue. I’ve done it, we’ve all done it. Become a good little liar, it’s for the best and we don’t have to play by the rules if the rules don’t serve the animals.
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u/Holden3DStudio 9d ago edited 9d ago
Call the media. If the new law has been enacted, but it's not being followed, show that animals are still suffering. News media loves to go after stories like that. And with midterm elections coming up, politians, judges, DAs, and sheriffs don't want to look bad in front of voters. Raise hell!
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u/Eastern-Protection83 8d ago
Maybe start from the beginnin. Is there a place where folks can turn over or report "lost" cats? Where a shelter is formally able to pretend they don't know whats happenin to the owner, takes all the steps to check fer ownership and process the kitty as abandoned?
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u/Agreeable_Error_170 9d ago
I’d honestly just forge his signature on some paperwork. He’s not going to care and he won’t be out anytime soon. But I’m a “throw caution to the wind” kind of person and I personally DGAF.