----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 1:32
PM
Subject: Re: advice needed re
"half-adopted" cat
i would call around--a humane society/spca would be my first call before
animal control--and find out what the laws are in your area. in some places,
any outside animal is considered a stray and therefore you can pick it up and
take it home. in others, however, that's not the case..... in michigan, for
example, if you find ANY stray cat or dog you are supposed to call the police
or animal control within 48 hours of finding it--theoretically, they are
supposed to come and get it from you, you are NOT allowed to keep it yourself
and try to place it. in reality, those officials who even know about the law
(and a lot of animal control officers in michigan do NOT!), will tell you to
place ads in the paper, try to find the owner, and then let you do whatever. a
friend found a roaming german shepherd, and did all the correct things--ads in
the paper, on petfinder, local rescues; had the dog vetted, and then put it up
for adoption. WELL.... turned out the dog HAD been microchipped when it was
adopted from a shelter. part of the agreement with the shelter, of course, was
that the dog be neutered--which it hadn't been. the previous owner, thus
caught out, went and had charges pressed against my friend for theft--even tho
they told the new owners they didn't want the dog and they could keep it. we
aren't sure WHY they went after my friend, except maybe for being angry that
probably had to pay fines because they hadn't neutered the dog in the first
place. nevertheless, my friend was found guilty of not reporting finding said
dog, and had to pay fines and court costs...(the dog was later found to have
some major congenital illness, which the first owners MAY have known about;
the new owners then tried to sue my friend for medical expenses....)
ie, make sure you're covered legally, then save the kitty!