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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To sue or not to sue ?

270 replies

PussyGalour · 14/06/2009 11:50

That is the question.
Grap a cuppa this is long

I've posted on here before about this but situation has changed slightly so things have moved on.

We moved house 2 years ago and our beautiful cat whom we had bought at great expensive (£500) to bred from ran away or so we thought. As it happens after we'd literally walked/drove around the streets, put up posters for months another child at our daughters school went to another parent at the schools house and said oh look that's DD's cat.
So upon learning this we approached them and they basically said they thought he was a stray (yeah right he's clearly a pedigree) and he is chipped and had a collar on - this of course may have come off but that's why you chip them isn't it.
So they refused to hand him back and we didn't really know what to do because we didn't want a custody over a cat thinking they were taking good care of him.
One day out of the blue she called me to say the cat was ill and she'd taken him to the vets where they'd decided to neuter him, knowing damn well he's our cat I said they had better not, she said it was already done
Today he has appeared in our garden and we've caught him and caged him and I'm keeping him.
But I'm so angry about the fact we cannot bred from our own animal.
Bit of background he is the purest of pure, I spent literally 12 months looking for a cat of his quality, paid over the odds and drove 8 hours with the children in the back to collect him.
To bred from cats you have to wait until they are 12 months old, so he was literally just about ready when he went missing.
I reckon this whole excercise has cost me £5,000 in loss of income and cost of replacing and waiting for a new kitten to become old enough to bred.
So who would you sue, the woman for stealing our cat and operating on him or the vet for doing the op on a cat that was chipped and they didn't own ?

OP posts:
TheFallenMadonna · 14/06/2009 12:16

Are you going to keep him in the house now then?

mummyhill · 14/06/2009 12:16

You should of taken appropriate action to get your cat back when you found they had it. If as you say they refused to give it back then yes you should of called the police and asked them to get a vet to check the cats microchip to ascertain ownership. The vet may of been under the impression that you had indeed sold or given the cat to them and hadn't yet changed the details over. Nothing unusual in a new owner phoning the previous owner of an animal if they are uncertain about vaccination/illnesses.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/06/2009 12:16

So you don't want to press charges to get the cat back but you want to sue?

EldonAve · 14/06/2009 12:17

Just realised in your OP they have had the cat for 2 years!

Any reason why you name changed for this thread?

Chandra · 14/06/2009 12:17

You should have tried to recover him when you found him and you didn't, if you had the cats would still be "breedable". Wrong decission that you can't go back on.

Regarding the vet...vets do not check microchips in a routine basis, if she took it to the vets it is perfectly normal for the vet to assume the cat was hers.

Why did she call you? how did she have your phone? I doubt you can convince anybody that you had not agreed to give up the cat in such circumstances.

(very curious to see a picture of a £500 cat though )

PussyGalour · 14/06/2009 12:17

Swedes, not according to our local bobby, once we asked for the cat to be returned and she refused that was permanently depriving us of our property.

OP posts:
cornsilk · 14/06/2009 12:18

2 years!
It's a while since I've had cats but there is no way I'd have let someone keep my cat (even a moggy) in those circumstances.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/06/2009 12:19

When did you ask your local policeman?

mears · 14/06/2009 12:19

Why not press charges if you were thinking of suing?

curiositykilled · 14/06/2009 12:20

P.S. I'm not saying the money or the cat are not important just more hinting that you should look at the good things you've got.

Legally if they've been caring for the cat with your knowledge and you have made no attempt to retrieve the cat, if you start legal proceedings or asking for money from them then it is very possible the cat could be awarded to them and you would end up with nothing.

PussyGalour · 14/06/2009 12:20

Hmmm he is a very beautiful cat, ask the people that nicked him well he's safely home now and that's where he's staying I guess we should just be glad he came back. He knew where he was loved and wanted.

OP posts:
ilovemydogandmrobama · 14/06/2009 12:20

A cat is a wild animal, not a domestic pet, so not sure you can steal a wild animal anyway, but an interesting legal point.

As far as the vet not checking, I don't think they routinely check unless the animal is lost.

Purely from a practical stance, how are you going to ensure that the cat stays at your house? As you know, cats do stray, and is programmed that the other house is home.

curiositykilled · 14/06/2009 12:21

the police don't know about property ownership issues, check with a solicitor.

PussyGalour · 14/06/2009 12:23

I called the local station a while back when I knew he was coming into our garden and just when my poor husband was sat in the sat for 45 mins with him calming him down having captured him again.

I'm looking on forums for advice because yes as you said he'll probably consider the other house home now, the whole thing is very very upsetting.

OP posts:
TheFallenMadonna · 14/06/2009 12:23

Took him a fair while to remember though...

starshaker · 14/06/2009 12:24

its not always choice that a cat gets out. my cat who was also £500 and as part of the contract must be a housecat only escaped a few nights ago when i went to the door. I got him back but if he didnt want to come back in there would really have been nothing i could have done. What kind of cat do u have

lljkk · 14/06/2009 12:25

Morally you're right, PG, they should have given the cat back when you stated your claim.
But LEGALLY, you didn't insist upon it. So they have a strong case (legally) to treat the cat as their own.

Chandra · 14/06/2009 12:25

How did he find the house if you have moved?

Forget the solicitors, ring the press.

TheFallenMadonna · 14/06/2009 12:26

Part of the contract?

lljkk · 14/06/2009 12:27

How in the world were you ever going to manage in the long run? Don't un-neutered tomcats spray like crazy? So hardly a good house pet. And you needed him to stay indoors 100% of the time, otherwise. To protect your investment, if naught else.

I'm not wildly against the pet trade, but maybe this story highlights much of what's wrong with it.

LIZS · 14/06/2009 12:27

Surely if you were that concerned about potential loss of income you'd have pursued it at the time you originally realised. As you didn't it could be argued you had written it off already so neutering now (perhaps for genuine health reasons) is irrelevant. Maybe she had re-registered the chip as belonging to her so vet would n't know otherwise, why should he even think to check if he has seen that cat with the same lady for 2 + years.

starshaker · 14/06/2009 12:31

for people who want to see my £500 cat here and the £400 will be in my profile

curiositykilled · 14/06/2009 12:31

Anyway, if you are insisting on keeping him. I would advise not telling anyone or you might lose him.

gerontius · 14/06/2009 12:32

Don't think the vet's done anything wrong here. I wouldn't expect them to check if the cat's microchipped, and even if he were, they don't check your identity when you go to the vet do they? She could have easily been you.
I know it must be frustrating but really, the time for going to the police was when you discovered the other family had the cat. Don't understand why you just left it.
Incidentally, how do you know it's your cat? If some other girl saw a cat that looks like yours at someone else's house, how do you know it's yours? And he's not 'clearly a pedigree' to people who don't know much about cats.

starshaker · 14/06/2009 12:32

yeah the contract says hes on a non active register (cant breed from him) and is a house cat