Who owns this cat?

RE: Who owns this cat?

Thomas Johnson — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 10:51:18 GMT

[quote userid="2457" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/28836/who-owns-this-cat/218985"]

IMO we should attempt to contact the registered owner, and I would phone, email and send a first class letter and hold the cat for a couple of days. If I then hadn't heard back I would give the cat back to its new owner, and if they agree I'd get them to sign something allowing me to give their details to the old owner, should they appear. If they refuse, however, then you couldn't release their details. If the old owner persists, then I'd tell them to contact the police to see if they can legally enforce me to give out the details.

I think there is a limit to how much we should get involed in 'policing' this situation, beyond the simple steps above. Afterall, if the owners of the missing cat are concerned,they would have called local vet practices and flagged up 'missing' on the microchip!

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It all worked out okay as we did eventually manage to speak to the registered owner and they no longer wanted the cat, it had apparently gone missing 2 years ago, they were happy for the woman who presented it to keep it and we sorted out getting the registration of the chip changed.

I think what I was most worried about was where we stood legally if we kept the cat in because we couldn't get hold of the registered owner.

RE: Who owns this cat?

Minnie — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 15:50:49 GMT

A microchip is not proof of ownership - the name and address is the registered keeper not a registered owner

RE: Who owns this cat?

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 14:40:39 GMT

I'd never seen that guidance ... But I'm happy that it pretty much says what I said! :-)

RE: Who owns this cat?

bob lehner — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 10:39:14 GMT

The Code of Professional Conduct has a lot to say on this topic:

https://www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/code-of-professional-conduct-for-veterinary-surgeons/supporting-guidance/29-microchips-microchipping-and-animals-without-microchips/

RE: Who owns this cat?

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 10:07:01 GMT

These situations can be a minefield of unhappy people where everybody ends up blaming the vet!!!

RE: Who owns this cat?

Rob Loxley — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 09:53:16 GMT

The cat remains property of it's owner until they say otherwise - unlike stray dogs who can be rehomed on via the local council/dog warden route and the previous owner loses ownership.

RE: Who owns this cat?

Anthony Dennison — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 15:12:43 GMT

If the cat is chipped the person who the chip is registered to is the legal owner. You have to speak to them directly before the cat can be discharged to anyone.

We had this saga a while back - crazy old lady had a cat given to her by someone, claims it was abused and ignored, and where it came from was a rough area. Chip registered to someone else - contacted them and they said they did want the cat back. Then we didn't hear from them for a week before they officially relinquished ownership. Batty old cat lady was happy to have 'her' cat back.