To sue or not to sue ?

[PussyGalour]

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 ?

Have Maine Coons, can understand your anger and the pain you've gone through. As others and right above, Quattro, pointed out by you allowing them to keep him in the first place and not taking immediate action I would say you have forfeited your right to complain now. It is difficult to prove profit losses in court and be awarded damages. As I said I can totally understand you are seething.

I have 2 pedigrees and am always keeping a close eye on them, they once escaped out of the window because our stupid maid left it open, I tell you, all 33 weeks preggars in 80% humidy and heat I was after the boy . If they are that prized to you then you have to guard them more closely. Maybe spend £100 to see if a solicitor can help you.

Blue? that changes the things... I would assume I was drunk, in that case...

The cat was blue? does that mean it was cold?

If the cat was your livelihood why only do something 2 years later?

Pussy galour - putting the boot in is putting the boot in whether it's at the time or later. Either you do something about it at the time or you don't. If you don't then you can't always go back at a later date and do something about it. The kids who live in the other house will now have to deal with the trauma of losing their parents and their cat because you let it stay and have now taken it back. It is generally an unpleasant situation for all (I can see it is sad for you to lose your cat). You really need to check with a solicitor properly. If it were me I would let them keep the cat but if you really want to keep it (and I can understand why) then you are best to just shut up and not tell them you've got it cos I'm pretty sure if it came down to a legal dispute you could be ordered to return the cat to them regardless of what you paid or your intentions for the cat when you bought it.

So what would you suggest ? I broke in and retrieved the cat ? Called the police and had them charged with theft ?
It was a very awkward situation at the time as I have repeatedly pointed out. What if my actions had pushd him over the edge, there was already rumors of him being suicidal due to the mansalughter charges.

Well we'll agree to disagree curiosity because I would suggest it is them in the weaker position.

WHy was he netured? did he need to have it done for medical reasons?

You need to forget all the emotional stuff, OP. If you are going to pursue an action (though for what, I am not sure) then you need to make sure it is going to payback otherwise you will end up further out of pocket. Unless of course you just want to vent, in which case feel free and I agree that it is all a bit horrid.

So try, just try, to look at this in a detached way.

Who can you take an action against? The vet? Sounds unlikely. The old couple?

What sort of action in law will you take?

And most importantly, what would be the likely outcome of this action?

You really need to start thinking about all this stuff rationally and coherently. Before starting any action you need to be convinced that there is a case in law for you to bring and MOST IMPORTANTLY the end result will be what you want.

AIBU with stealth reveal

4

What I am saying is you either give them the cat or you don't. The law wouldn't interpret them caring for the cat for 2 years but you retaining ownership unless you had a contractual agreement with them. You could have used the police or a solicitor at the time to order them to return the cat. If you felt this was unreasonable at the time and didn't do it then you need to come to terms with the idea that you have effectively given them ownership of the cat - whether you meant to or not is immaterial. I am quite sure the law would see it like this if it went before a judge but a solicitor might be able to get them to release the cat to you by clever manipulation and threat. Since you already have the cat you don't need them to do this for you and if you sue them and bring the case to court then they could counter sue and ask for the cat. Then you would have nothing.

the pic of my cat is a british blue its the name of the colour not blue as in the colour of the sky. you also get blue rabbits (i have them 2)

Manslaughter charges.......???

If you sue them, might they counter claim for the costs of having him for the last two years (you knew where he was but wouldn't take him back)? Housekeeping, 2 possibly 3 sets of innoculations, any additional vet attention - and then the cost of the neutering? The irony of you ending up paying for him to be neutered.
Think vets will neuter any male cat they can due to the thousands of unwanted kittens in this country every year.

Not a cat person but a dog person. My purebred golden retriever has all sorts of clauses in his contract of sale, even one on his place of residence! He is just a pet, a really silly soppy pet.

suwoo the manslaughter charges were mentioned ages ago

I'd gladly pay his vets bills and housekeeping costs out of the loss of earnings claim, although I think they'd be hard pressed on the basis that I knocked the door and ask for my cat back and they refused.
The vets should neuter as many strays as possible, but if people are claiming that joe public doesn't know a moggy from a pedigree I doubt that same argument stacks up with a vet.

On this thread? I must have been too busy goggling blue cats simultaneously to read it properly

I'm still wondering why this thread needed a namechange for the OP?

So what are you going to do, OP?

Because all this stuff about legal action just sounds like noise tb(brutally)h.

I didn't realise i had to decide today

If it was my cat I'd have contacted the police when cat missing, when I found the cat I'd have got the police involved if they didn't hand it straight back with an apology.
This scenario sounds like letting someone else keep your bicycle which they "found" in the street but then having a hissy fit if they wanted to respray it in a colour you don't like or lower the spec. If you know someone else has stolen/ taken something of yours and don't contact the police then you're really giving them free reign to do whatever they like with it, you've given up ownership.
If they hadn't neutered the cat you still wouldn't have been able to breed from it because they would have it, so nothing's really changed (for you, obviously it has for the cat)

I think now if you want the cat I'd keep it and keep the cat in. If you don't want it let it out and see where it chooses to go. You sound as though you want it in which case just keep quiet, unless the police call when you'll have to explain how it's really your cat.
I think you'd lose any case against them for neutering it.

I have 2 Tonkinese cats which cost quite a lot too.They are both neutered!I showed for a while and found the people so very nasty [catty in fact!]that I now have them as beautiful,affectionate pets and if I found anyone else with either of them they wouldnt last 2 days never mind 2 years.

Re colours-one of mine is 'lilac'!

You should have sorted it out at the start and you should have insured the cat in the first place if your plan was an economic one. You've screwed up, I'd say, even if the situation was unpleasant.