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Cat Question

OK, I need some input.  Very late last night, I was walking home in Washington, DC when I suddenly saw a cat near a parked car on a fairly busy street.  What made this skinny, light orange cat different from the many other cats that I normally see around the neighborhood is that it had a blue collar with a tag on it.  Figuring that it belonged to someone, I called it and it came right over to me and let me pick it up.  I was able to read its collar and saw that there was a name and phone number on it.  Even though it was an hour when all normal people are asleep, I figured that if they had lost their cat, they'd want a call, so I dialed the number from my cell but only got voicemail.  Well, then I had a dilemma since I couldn't reach the owners and didn't want to just release it into the street in case they were looking for it.

I decided to carry it to my place where it could be safe until I figured out what to do with it so, in spite of mild protests from the cat (but no biting or scratching), I carried it the four or so blocks to my apartment. 
When I put it down, it saw Rummy and made a sound that I did not know cats could make (imagine a jaguar getting its tail caught under a rocking chair), scaring the daylights out of the much bigger Rummy, who took off running.  Well, not wanting to see a catfight or having the new cat hide somewhere, I locked it in the bathroom with some food, water and litter.

After unsuccessfully trying the owners again, I decided to call animal control, figuring that I could not simply keep it with me and that they could contact the owner and take care of it until they found him.    Surprisingly, animal control came right over at about 5 in the morning (just minutes after I called them) and the friendly officer took the cat away.

I figured that I had done my good deed for the day but when I called the owner again this afternoon to follow up and he cheerfully told me that, yeah, they let the cat out to play on the street and not to worry about it.  Predictably, he was pretty pissed when I told him that I had called animal control and that they had the cat.

Questions:  Should I have done something differently?  What would you have done?  It seems to me that if you put a tag with a phone number on the collar of your pet, you're implicitly asking whoever finds the animal to call you and suggesting that it is a domesticated animal that doesn't belong in the street (especially in the middle of a city; I suppose that the country, where there are less cars and other man made dangers, is different).  I know that if Rummy or Bogie ever got out, I'd want whoever found them to take them in and call me immediately, day or night, and not assume that I had simply let them out to wander the streets but maybe I was wrong in assuming that other pet owners think the same way.

Posted by: Jheka at April 01, 2007 15:25 | link | comments (6) |
miscellaneous musings

Comments:

#1  02 April 2007 - 13:26

 

Someone who would put a kitten that size outside in a busy street should have the A.S.P.C.A. knocking on their door for animal abuse.
You did the right thing. I would have done the same.
---Larry Everett

Anonymous

#2  02 April 2007 - 15:05

 

I should probably note that the cat pictured above is not the actual cat in question ... but it's actually not a bad likeness (the cat in question was an adult, if a pretty skinny one).

Jheka

#3  05 April 2007 - 10:27

 

You did the right thing. I guess the poor cat's owners want us all to let our pets roam free and not be responsible for the damage done.

Anonymous

#4  09 April 2007 - 15:05

 

You did the right thing, and the pet owner is not only socially irresponsible but also puts the pet at risk. Those that think it's inhumane to keep a cat indoors should either 1) not adopt a cat or 2) move to the country where the cat will (at least) be in a more natural environment. Cats in cities can easily catch FIV (cat equivalent of HIV) from a simple scuffle with another cat on the street, and clearly automobile traffic presents its own dangers to the animal's health.

As far as the social responsibility angle is concerned, you should remind the pet owner that not everyone likes to see a cat roaming free in the neighborhood, chasing squirels/birds or potentially dumpster diving.

Anonymous

#5  15 April 2007 - 16:40

 

You did the right thing.
Shame on people that don't properly care for their pets.
Shame for the pets that have such owners.

Anonymous

#6  16 July 2007 - 09:27

 

Maybe you didn't do the best for the owner (although your intention was good), but you certainly did the best for the cat. I would have probably done the same.

karol

Comments:

adopt your own virtual pet!