People "stealing" cats

[Shoomackaroo]

I just saw one of those viral videos on facebook. I don't know how to link facebook videos on here (anyone know?) But basically a couple are walking home and a lovely healthy looking ginger cat is following them. The cat has no collar but I know my cat hates wearing a collar and always ends up scratching it off.

Basically the boyfriend is filming and the girlfriend says something like "that cat is mine now". The boyfriend says "well if he follows us all the way home, I suppose i'll let you keep him".

Cue the rest of the video being the couple stroking the cat, when the cat stops the girlfriend stops and tries to get its attention again, and more stroking.

When they get to their apartment the girlfriend stands in their hallway and the cat lies on the step not going in.
The girlfriend waits inside and calls for the cat who then walks in and they shut their apartment door and feed it and basically say "you're going to love your new home" -.-

After backlash in the comments, the couple apparantly took the cat to the vet and it wasnt chipped (still doesnt mean it stray) and they've posted a 'found' on a couple of websites and nobody gets back to them within 72 hours, theyre allowed to adopt it -.-

I'm sorry but they goaded that cat to their house. Surely most people give a cat a stroke and then try and stop it following them not try to rehome them??

The 72 hours thing is ridiculous! What if the original owners just dont see the posts and are out there still looking for their cat??
They shouldve left the cat were it was and if the car was visibily hungry then yes probably rehome it.
But it seems the cat was well-looked after, friendly and fed -.-

Wish i knew how to link a video so you could see how annoying they were!

@gumball37 - actually, just read that again. Are you saying that you just took a cat from a car park and that’s it? You made no effort to check it for a chip? No posts online to ask if anyone had lost a cat?

If so, glad he’s “happy” with you, but hope his old family have got over losing him. If you did do those checks, then apologies. If not, then why not?

[quote Furries]@gumball37 - was that directed at me? If so, I’ll try to add more. I’m in a little village in the UK. In the 6 years I’d stopped at the local shop on my way back from the train station, I had NEVER seen a single cat on the village “high street”. I knocked at a few cottage doors to enquire about him (he followed the whole time) and then I went back to the shop to leave my contact details - it was nighttime and, although a little village, it’s the only route through to a coastal area and we get a lot of HGVs going through, I couldn’t just leave him there. He followed me back up the road to my car and jumped in as soon as I opened a door. I had no intention of keeping you him, just to keep him safe overnight, then took him to get him chip checked in the morning (out of date details), but thankfully found the owner via the shop I’d left my details with. Can categorically state I would never want to keep a cat from its rightful owner - unless abuse/neglect was obvious and would still follow an appropriate route for that.[/quote]
I didn't even see your reply. I was responding to the main post. Where I just took a cat because he was at a store and it didn't seem safe to me. He's fabulous 😁

I took him to the vet and watched for missing cat posters... Nothing ever came up.

@gumball37 - ok, sorry! Am guessing you’re Us rather than Uk (only because of terminology re convenience store)?

You took him to the vets - only asking as I have no idea! Is chipping common there for cats? So am assuming no chip? If so, he’s a lucky chap that you found him and has been cared for for so long.

The fact that the cat is well fed, friendly and clean means it is unlikely to be stray, it might have escaped through an open window.

I've seen it on my FB local groups too, if a cat looks well and it is not distressed then leave it alone including not feeding it.

I'm very relieved my cat is really skittish around strangers so I know he would never voluntarily go with someone but he has jumped into a neighbours open window before. Some cats (normally ones who are well cared for) are so affectionate they will want attention and affection from anyone.

not chipped - no owner. sorry, its as easy as that.

The cat should be chipped, as it’s hugely irresponsible to have an outdoor cat with no chip.

That said, I don’t agree with luring someone else’s pet home. I had an argument with my secretary once because she told me she feeds a cat in her neighbourhood every day because she feels sorry for it, despite her knowing the owner of the cat and knowing it is fed and cared for at its home. Interfering with other people’s pets isn’t right.

People saying “the cat should have been chipped” are ignoring the fact that in this case, the couple weren’t even going to bother checking until all the backlash!

My cat was "stolen". And her being chipped made no difference because the people who took her in didn't taken her to the vet to check.

For goodness sake, don’t confused the USA and the UK. In terms of animal welfare they are years apart.
In the UK, I wouldn’t even dream of calling a cat home like this couple as chances are it will belong to someone. Also, most cats I come across In the UK from friends, neighbours etc are chipped.
BUT in the USA they have many stray cats! So many that the animal charities TNR (Trap neuter release back to the streets) all the time. The cat can be fat for a number of reasons including someone feeding them without offering them a home. When I lived there I was not allowed an animal in my rental so the best I could do was feed the strays which were in the double digit numbers.
I think under the circumstances they did good. They offered a kitty a home and they checked for a chip. I applaud them.

I have a cat that comes in my house every day but I never shut him in. He's chipped and lives maybe half a mile away, but he can't get in as no cat flap. So if it's raining or cold or late at night, he comes in. I wouldn't ever shut him in and I checked for a chip and spoke to cats protection

A cat being chipped is only useful if the finding person is honest and gets it checked.

My cat was 'stolen' to replace a family's cat that has died. Turned out it was being treated by our own vets but they don't actually check microchips during routine appointments. They'd been seeing my cat under a different identity all the time they had it registered as missing!

sporkle exactly. I can't imagine the couple in the video getting the chip checked so it would be utterly useless.

@Gurning pretty much has it

@Gurning ermmm no. Some (a lot) of cats love to wander and hate being stuck indoors.
Originally, I was going to make my cat an indoor cat but he wasn't happy. I now have a cat flap and he mostly stays in the garden tbh but he does sometimes go further.

This does not give anyone an excuse to take him in.

And once again, cats dont choose who they live with!! This line seems to be used by people who take cats. Cats just want what you can give them.

People do realise that sometimes chips fail?!
They can shift to another part so it’s not easily detectable and some just stop working altogether .
Stop being morons ..

You can't give a cat 'freedom'. It is either your property, or not.

If a cat has begun hanging out at my house, and I feel inclined to feed it, and make it feel welcome, then as far as I am concerned, the cat has chosen this as it's new home. I'm not going to any efforts to find out where it came from. I mean, I won't lock it in, but while it stays voluntarily, then here it stays 🤷🏻‍♀️

Gurning well aren’t you a lovely person.

My cat is purebred, well groomed, chipped and wears a collar but someone down the street "took her in" anyway. I only discovered it after a post in the local group where someone praised their friend for "rescuing" a stray cat.

Why did you let your cat roam then @firstmentat ?
I also feed the birds round here....I don't own the birds and get angry if a neighbour with better bird food steals them.....freedom to roam means they might not return.

@Gurning
She knows where her home is and always returns. They decided that she is to be an indoors cat, and locked her in to train. It is not like she has decided to stay with them
To be fair, they let her out after I kicked up a big fuss.