To have chased the person who took my cat?

[PerkyPenny20]

They took my poor cat from our front wall, and started walking off! I was in the kitchen which faces out onto the front garden, and ran outside, I called after them and they said "oh I'm taking it to the vet, its a lost cat!" I said, "no, its our cat, put him down!!" they were very funny with me walked off muttering "only trying to help" thankfully releasing my cat before doing so.

I understand people have concerns for lost animals, but to take one pretty much off my property, has good samaritanism gone too far?

This is why you shouldn’t let your cat wander round loose outside - LOTS of people steal cats for some nice reasons and lots of horrible ones

They really don’t. It’s very rare.

There are some bonkers people about who always seem to think if they see a cat they haven’t seen before then it must be lost or stray and need help. It’s absolutely crazy and you see it all the time on Facebook with all these pictures of ‘stray’ cats that aren’t stray and aren’t lost. Just leave peoples cats alone you loons!

There are some bloody annoying do-gooders who catnap perfectly well looked after cats and deposit them at the vets near me. They are a PITA. I own the scrawniest cat going despite being well looked after (rescue & malnourished runt of the litter) and I have to have a collar on her to make sure she isn’t taken.
Someone posted on Nextdoor app about a cat with 3 legs and how they were going to take it to the vets as it’s begging for food because it’s starving , it’s a local celebrity. It hangs around the local shop so people feel sorry for it and buy it a tin of cat food, despite it living just across the road and being extremely well fed. It gets about 5 meals a day some days and definitely doesn’t need taking to the vet!

If they tried that with one of mine, she'd run away.

The other would lacerate their arms like Freddie Krueger.

According to my area every cat that's seen is lost.

Typical posts are things like this cat was near my house.. I fed him a few times now he doesn't want to leave. With a pic of the cat all cosy up on the sofa.

There's no way I will let my cat out now.

Ugh yes I see it all the time on the local area FB.
'Anyone recognise this cat? Looks lost/a stray, gonna take it to vets'
Half the cats looked borderline overweight (not exactly a marker for a 'stray') and actually have collars on!

They wouldn't get near mine, she hates people.

I really wonder about these people who go around picking up cats that are outside, automatically assuming that they're stray or lost.

They really don't. A few oddballs might, though.

This is why you shouldn’t let your cat wander round loose outside - LOTS of people steal cats for some nice reasons and lots of horrible one

No

Unfortunately, it's not that rare. I think sometimes people think they are "rescuing" the cat, but I see so many posts on my local group from people whose cats have been taken. They know where they are, but the people who have them, won't give them back. Sometimes it's just feeding cats to encourage them to stay, but sometimes people will steal cats and keep them inside. I think it might be a side-effect of the fact that adopting cats costs so much money now.

YANBU at all. There has been a definite increase in posts on our local FB pages saying “please do not take this cat to the vet. She is not a stray. She lives at X. She just likes to sleep on the pavement however much we tell her not to.”

Also, as a PP mentioned, an increase in the “I think this cat is a stray” posts with a picture of a clearly well groomed, well fed cat wearing a collar.

I’m sick of seeing post on the local residents page about homeless/stray cats… And there’s always a picture of a massively fat cat sitting there looking perfectly content. Unless a cat looked seriously malnourished or in pain, I’d never dream of picking up and wandering off with it. I found a cat that had been hit by a car: the first thing I did was go to the houses directly opposite, asking if anybody recognised the cat. They didn’t, so at that point I rang the RSPCA.

Our Facebook group is the same, what is the matter with people?? So many photos of perfectly well fed, happy looking cats that people think are lost for some reason. A lady recently posted two in the same day that had been "near" her house. Very odd.

Yes oddballs but also teenage boys encouraged to torture and kill cats as part of "gang" initiation ceremonies. It is very much a thing and isn't as uncommon as you think.

It's certainly not a "thing" around here.

Well, that's good then. At least cats and other animals are free from harm wherever you live. But I can assure you it is a problem and one noted by the RSPCA. Teenage boys (it's almost always boys) are also attacking or killing wild animals, farm animals and domestic pets with air guns, sling shots, screwdrivers and crossbows and filming the attacks to circulate online. Maybe all god's creatures should move to your safe haven.

I’m really scared about this, one of mine is a ‘petit cat’ and worried people will think she’s a stray with being tiny.

im glad you ran out, goodness knows what she would of done with your poor cat!

Make sure your cat is chipped and your details are up to date. I think the vast majority of people who post re lost / stray cats act with good intentions even if they're misguided. And you have to put into context how small a risk her being taken is, compared to how unhappy she'd be if she was kept in.

I'm very glad I live on a road that isn't full of complete loons.
We have cats that go out. We have cats that visit us try to break in. Nobody on the road ever tries to kidnap cats.

OMG yes, I had a phone call the other day from a man who said he’d found my cat (collar has phone number on it), and told me where he was…I opened the door and he was outside my house 😂 my cat is fat as fuck and couldn’t look less like a poor wandering lost cat. I was really bemused.

mine wanders around the garden and next doors all the time, she clearly lives here. As someone else said, its very rare that someone will pick up a cat to take to the vets just like that without even using a carrier or a trap.

To the person who said I shouldn't let him out, the front wall is the furthest he goes! He likes to watch passers-by. He is chipped, has a collar too. He doesn't look malnourished.

It's odd, as I am typing this, the man has just passed by my home again (cat is inside now)

There is a lot of do gooder cat napping where I live. Multiple FB posts every day of cats just being out and about and minding their own business. It’s so weird.

Well, you're posting like it happens on every street up and down the country, lol.

My cats all go outside and everyone I know has cats that go outside - no issues with any of them being "stolen", injured or anything else.