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Anyone ever have to "Repo" a cat?

post #1 of 13
1/4/10 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 
It's a long story, but basicly a woman came to our shelter, volutneered with us once or twice. Adopted a pair of 6 month old kittens. When they were delivered she lied to the volunteer & said she had arrangements with the director to pay for them later. The director tried to get her to pay, I have tried to get her today (the director has since left the shelter) & over a month later we have not seen a dime. So tonight, I am going to P.D. of her city & we are going to "repo" the kittens. I am super nervous as I have never had to deal with this kind of thing before.
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post #2 of 13
1/4/10 at 4:59pm
No, we did have a volunteer steal one once but could never prove it.

Unless its a long time volunteer or director, its rare for us to allow the animal to go home without being formally adopted

Let me know how it goes though
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post #3 of 13
1/4/10 at 5:17pm
I will be following this with interest. Good luck!
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post #4 of 13
1/5/10 at 3:19am
It's a difficult one, especially if the kittens are happy and healthy, and settled in their new home. What will happen to them?
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post #5 of 13
1/5/10 at 5:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennyranson View Post
It's a difficult one, especially if the kittens are happy and healthy, and settled in their new home. What will happen to them?
That's a good point. If it's a good home, I would probably want to leave them where they are and write it off to experience.

Don't forget to update us!
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post #6 of 13
1/5/10 at 7:03am
I agree. If the kittens seems to be happy there, you can save the situation by writing them up as a gift - with the condition written in the gift letter: as long as they are happy....

thus, it CAN be a win-win situation.


good luck!
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post #7 of 13
1/5/10 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 
So the situation did not go as planned. The police stated that it is a civil matter, as per the law pets are considered "property". So according to the law this is essentially a transfer of property. Because of that we need to go through the civil process & send her a letter. Then if she still does not comply, we need to go to court & get a judgement against her. The police officer was very nice & did a good job explaining ther process for us. so we are currently working on getting a certified letter sent out to her.

I agree that if they are being taken care of other arrangements could be made, but looking at the circuit court records, this woman has many financial judgements against her. So our concern is not that we won't get paid, but that we do not know if the kittens are being properly cared for. We are going to start with the certified letter and move forward from that point.
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post #8 of 13
1/5/10 at 12:24pm
Whew! I've never heard of such a thing.

Very interesting dilemma, though.

Gotta think of the welfare of the cats first.

If she has a lot of judgements against her, what makes you feel that you have a chance to even see the kittens?
Yikes!

Really, unless the cats aren't being cared for properly - is it really worth the "Principle", or the $$, or the emotional upset to get them back?

Let's pretend that you find that the cats aren't being cared for properly, AND, she pays you the $$ owed - will you then refuse the $$ and take back the cats?

Thinking of all the animals that have been rescued, and need homes, here's a person that wants these cats so bad she's willing to steal them - crazy.

Glad I'm not in your shoes, for sure.
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post #9 of 13
1/5/10 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GloriaJH View Post
Whew! I've never heard of such a thing.

Very interesting dilemma, though.

Gotta think of the welfare of the cats first.

If she has a lot of judgements against her, what makes you feel that you have a chance to even see the kittens?
Yikes!

Really, unless the cats aren't being cared for properly - is it really worth the "Principle", or the $$, or the emotional upset to get them back?

Let's pretend that you find that the cats aren't being cared for properly, AND, she pays you the $$ owed - will you then refuse the $$ and take back the cats?

Thinking of all the animals that have been rescued, and need homes, here's a person that wants these cats so bad she's willing to steal them - crazy.

Glad I'm not in your shoes, for sure.
on the other hand what if her morals trickle down to the treatment of animals? If she doesn't pay her debts, there's a good chance she won't fork out for the vet either.

Knowing that she has a history as a deadbeat would make me even more concerned for their welfare, and makes me also think it is worth pursuing.

Please keep us updated!
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post #10 of 13
1/5/10 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
on the other hand what if her morals trickle down to the treatment of animals? If she doesn't pay her debts, there's a good chance she won't fork out for the vet either.

Knowing that she has a history as a deadbeat would make me even more concerned for their welfare, and makes me also think it is worth pursuing.

Please keep us updated!
That's how I would look at it.
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post #11 of 13
1/5/10 at 5:12pm
Wow, what a all around unhappy situation!

for the kitties and for all of you dealing with this.
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post #12 of 13
1/19/10 at 7:39am
Thread Starter 
Just a quick update. We are working with a lawyer on another issue, so we have drafted a letter to this woman and will be having the lawyer send it out. We figure we may get a better response than just a letter from us. Unfortunately, I don't think we are going to get the cats back, but maybe we will at least get paid.
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post #13 of 13
1/20/10 at 12:54am
Is there a possibility that when she gets the letter that she hurts the cats?

What a icky situation.
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