You will recall my complaint to the RSPCA earlier this year after a cat we had taken in – and kitten – was found abandoned under a neighbour’s shed in Hull.
It was found pregnant, without food or drink, in 40 degrees heat. We took measures to try to reunite them with their owners – including scanning the microchip, taking them to the vets and publicising on social media. We heard nothing and was told it was due to give birth at any time, leaving us with a choice to either rehome here or with a charity. It also was diagnosed with cystitis and mastitis, and was notably malnourished, requiring plenty of medication over the course of its time with us.
We contacted the RSPCA because five months later we had the cat taken by us by people purporting to be its owners. They had previously been in touch months earlier telling us they wanted it back, but was unwilling to given that it was undergoing extensive treatment, we did not have a valid reason for them abandoning it, it was living with its new kittens, and we had been told they were not prepared to medicate or take it to a vet. They had told us they had left the country for the summer months unaware of where the cat had gone, and had made no attempt to find it when it was considered lost.
NB: We did, however, allow them to visit at any time, and offered to support them integerate into the community by helping to find them English classes.
The RSPCA would not support us in retrieving the cat from their home, where we believed them to have abandoned multiple pets. That is despite being informed by the officers we’d done the right thing. The RSPCA said it was going to work with the owners to educate them on cat ownership, and publicly said you commented it had been returned it to a “loving” home. When we said we were concerned this would happen again, and remained skeptical of your comments, you told us to get back in touch if anything further happened. You added that the owners were prepared to repay the bills. You also could not tell us if the cat was still being medicated for the conditions we had paid out for, but insisted it had gone to the vets.
The RSPCA has been informed on numerous occasions the owners continue to leave the cat behind at every school holiday, passing it to whoever they can leave it with. Because we could not verify the health of the cat you said you would not intervene. That is despite you being aware of the history of this cat, and the number of lost pets they have owned.
We did not receive any financial support for the money spent on this cat, given the promise given to us through the RSPCA. Once again this summer – as in previous years – the cat was sent elsewhere while this family left the country, for more than ten weeks, between July and September. We raised concerns with the RSPCA, which went unresponded.
Now we have found out through social media the owner mentioned through passing that the cat has gone missing. It has not been logged with the microchip company, no posters have been put up, no proper social media posts made other than this passing comment, and no details have been provided as to where it was lost. We are very dispirited to find this out. We had previously warned the RSPCA this would happen, but our fears and concerns were ignored in an attempt to ‘reunite’ the cat with the family despite what we deem ‘abuse’ previously. The accusation appears to be that we’ve taken the cat again.
The owner now also claims to have briefly lost another cat, which again we read on social media is unchipped and never went to a vets, and seems to have replaced Maggie – or Piica as they call her.
This appears to be history repeating itself, with presumably another person now looking after this cat. All because this owner spends most of their time abroad and does not leave it with a cattery. I wonder at what cost animals must pay before the RSPCA decides these people are unfit to own animals?
This will no doubt fall of deaf ears again, like our original concerns, but given the RSPCA were keen for us to report the cat if anything happened to it this summer, we felt we may as well follow it up.
Thank you
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