Just the other day I was in Petsmart and they had one of the local animal shelters in there trying to find homes for some babies. I, having no self control, decided my cat could use a new buddy; plus they had oodles of adorable cats.
I got out my check book with the intention of donating an extra $50 on top of the fee for the cat when the lady informs me of their procedure. Apparently, they DEMAND that all their cats and dogs (yes, EVEN DOGS) stay indoors. She said they can come by and randomly check up on the cat to make sure you are keeping it indoors. Needless to say,I walked out. That’s a bit much for me.
Was there any additional information on the tag, like the cat’s name? I’m guessing they’ll remove the old tag to make sure that you’re not contacted if the cat ever became lost. I don’t know who usually makes these tags, the vet perhaps?, but you could contact some of the possibilities in your area and ask if a replacement has been ordered that fits your pet’s name (if it was on the old one).
My last three cats were Ralf, One Point Five and Captain Meighnot. They have all bein indoor/outdoor cats who had free access to the outside world any time they wanted it. Ralf was the night owl, who went out at night and came home in the morning. He lived to be 9 years old. One Point Five and Captain Meighnot were both born feral and adopted as kittens. One Point five died in June at the age of 15. Captain Meighnot is still going strong at nearly 16, and still has all the access to the outside world his heart desires.
Of course, all three of them always had good vet care and were well fed.
I know what you mean. One Point Five and Captain Meighnot would very likely dig their way out through any and all carpeting and floorboards. Ralf climbed every curtain in the house in his effort to enjoy the out of doors.
Yeah, my neighbor’s kids have already cracked the corner off of a concrete driveway that’s less than two years old by continually riding over it with their motorized playtoy of doom.
They’ve destroyed several shrubs on the other neighbor’s property and thought it would be fun to dig with gardening trowels where we planted grass around the newly poured driveway. Gimme cats any day.
For a long time now, I’ve questioned as to whether or not I should get one of those little subcutaneous microchip things implanted in any of my future pets. Your story, An Arky has made the importance of doing so clear.
I hope they find this festering cuntsore and throw the book at her, right after you get your cat back. :mad:
Just to be clear, pet microchips will only assist in recovering a pet if it is taken to a shelter or vet that has the right scanning equipment, it is not like a LoJac stolen vehicle locator. If the thief keeps the cat indoors, no one will ever find it, chipped or not.
No, but if you claim your cat was stolen by a certain person (as in the case of the OP) and are able to track them down. The fact that your cat’s chipped would rule out anyone else being able to claim that said cat’s been theirs all along.
I think this means allowing it to sleep indoors, as opposed to chaining it up in a kennel in the yard 24/7 and ignoring it. Even you can agree that is a terrible way to treat a companion animal, especially one who is as naturally sociable as a pooch.
I’n waiting for An Arky to come by and tell us what the police said. Any hope on the horizon?
I actually asked them about what they meant by this. They said the dog should be indoors all times it is not using the bathroom. They even had tips on box training smaller dogs.
I mean, I live in Southern California. It’s the dead of winter and it’s 55 degrees outside. Of course my lil guys sleep inside (ok, they aren’t so little- a chow and a great dane), but I’m not about to keep them in 23 hours a day.
Never before had I heard of such a thing. I know about the long standing indoor/out door cat debate…but dogs?
Hi. I’ve submitted a police report (waiting for followup) and the Animal Welfare League (they’ve started a report). I’m trying to find out where the pay phone is and leave a flyer there.
But I can’t do as much as I would like…my wife’s giving birth any day now and we’re focusing on that as much as possible.
Thanks for all the support. Chloe’s a good cat, but she’s pretty close to the end of her life anyway, and maybe we just getting spared having to deal with her death.
Take solace that karma has a way of working itself into situations like this. If that doesn’t help, find out who this woman is, get a burlap sack and a rubber mallot. I think you know the rest. Peace.
I’m one of those people that would pretty much ignore just about anything if I felt some asshat had stolen my property and there was even a remote chance I could track them down. I can’t stand people who act like they can ignore the law and take whatever they want for whatever reason.
I would think it would be far worse to keep some dogs (especially Great Danes!) indoors most of the time. I thought most shelters didn’t advocate people getting large dogs (or any dog, really) unless they had room to run around outside. My grandparents had a dog that was kinda an indoor only dog, but they had leash laws and walked outside (with the dog) at least a couple hours a day. She was also a timid thing, scared of a cat half her size! Maybe that’s why she didn’t mind staying inside.
That does seem a bit excessive. I volunteer for a local rescue group, and we are petty strict compared to some others. In our adoption contracts we specify an indoor only lifestyle for the cats, as well as agreeing not to declaw. For the dogs, we don’t say the dogs have to be indoors 24/7, but we do ask that they do spend the majority of their time indoors (I think it says something like no more than a couple hours unsupervised (i.e. alone) a day). Which seems reasonable to me - why adopt a companion animal only to not spend time with it? Our group is really into the quality of the homes rather than the quantity of animals we can get out the door.