Need advice on "rescuing" (aka stealing) roommate's neglected cat when I move

P3 and The King said:

I understand passions run high on here, because it's a cat possibly suffering.  But, we are only getting one side of the story.  Plus, a lot of the suggestions on here are illegal and childish.  It is best to talk to this Jason and explain to him your new connection and affection for Flea.  Don't insult his "parenting" because you will get nowhere.  He will most likely only be defensive and not willing to cooperate.  Offer him some money and if he says no then ask him how much he feels is fair.  If he still says no, then that's that.   Not much else you can do short of breaking the law and causing problems for yourself. 

Also, posters, the OP has not been back since posting the first post.  I think this is now irrelevant. 

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 Very well said. And, true about the OP. 

And now I just bumped it back up. Sorry! 

My apologies for disappearing for so long! After I wrote my post, I kept rechecking the post but initially found no replies and assumed no one was interested. I just looked back now and am surprised at such a long conversation...and an outpouring of support!

Jason won't relent. He's taking the cat when he leaves...and STILL not paying a dime. I should probably mention that the decision to take on Flea's care wasn't really a personal choice. Flea arrived in the house without warning and (compliments of being thrust onto the household cats without a proper introduction), initially fought and overpowered my own cat. Flea is much bigger and stronger than Perch, initially ate Perch's food (he still does unless two bowls are provided) and fought Perch to the point that I had to take him to the vet for wounds to the tune of $100. Not to mention, denying Flea a litter box means the cat defecates and urinates in my room (on top of my dry-clean only box of clothes and suede boots, of course) as the other roommates keep their doors closed 24-7. When I offered Flea attention and treated him equally to Perch, the bad behavior stopped and I didn't have to worry about my own cat becoming injured or having his food eaten.

Also, in Chicago, the cost of pet care is high so $40 and four small bags of Purina equate to less than one month of cat care. $50 a month is about normal for this area. Our original agreement seven months ago was that I'd do the work of feeding the cats if Jason contributed to the payment. 

The situation with Jason, however, has intensified. A week ago, I stopped him on the staircase (he's locked in his room or gone 90% of the time), asked for his past and still due utility bill payment, then offered $100 for Flea. He rudely refused...even when I went to $300! Though furious, I rationalized that Flea would be best with Jason. I smoke cigarettes and know it's bad for cats...though I'm resigned to smoking outdoors when I find a new apartment. However, a kink has now risen and Jason is turning out to be a sleazier character than I imagined. Jason is moving February 1st and refusing to pay January's rent unless I promise to return his security deposit. However, Jason broke the contract of the lease, not only by refusing to pay rent but by getting drunk and punching another roommate in the head last weekend!

I'm talking to my landlord tomorrow about evicting Jason as soon as possible and believe my landlord may change the locks on him...effectively locking him away from his possessions...including Flea. But I don't want to get too excited about this - in all probability, Flea is a lost cause. My dying hope is the Jason's new roommates will find themselves in the same situation I did and maybe...maybe...Jason will change his mind after the fact.

Thank you for all your support - I don't think I can steal the cat but am crossing my fingers that a second "guardian angel" will come this poor cat's way.

After re-reading these posts, I'm becoming more upset at this jerk and thinking of another option...whomever above suggested having Flea "run away" had a smart idea, that I considered myself. Flea ran away when he first arrived and was recovered via Craigslist...patrolling the doors to keep the cats inside is solely my duty and I've spent many a "party night" guarding the back door and screaming "don't let the cats out!" I caught Flea slipping out the front door just today. The guilty look on his face after I scolded him, followed by my petting him reassuringly later was the incident that seemed to reignite my sadness. But I think Jason would figure out a correlation and I don't want to do anything illegal.

Another thought - Flea came from the Anti-cruelty Society in Chicago (similar to the Humane Society) - Jason told me this when he originally moved in. The shelter microchips all pets and is known for keeping pretty intense tabs on owners; I was interrogated for two hours before adopting Perch. Though I don't think they'll reclaim Flip, but I can call to explain the situation in the chance that Jason's future roommates aren't happy with unwittingly becoming full-time pet owners and try to contact the shelter...convoluted, I know. But at least Jason would be barred from future adoption

nomoremommyfood said:

After re-reading these posts, I'm becoming more upset at this jerk and thinking of another option...whomever above suggested having Flea "run away" had a smart idea, that I considered myself. Flea ran away when he first arrived and was recovered via Craigslist...patrolling the doors to keep the cats inside is solely my duty and I've spent many a "party night" guarding the back door and screaming "don't let the cats out!" I caught Flea slipping out the front door just today. The guilty look on his face after I scolded him, followed by my petting him reassuringly later was the incident that seemed to reignite my sadness. But I think Jason would figure out a correlation and I don't want to do anything illegal.

Another thought - Flea came from the Anti-cruelty Society in Chicago (similar to the Humane Society) - Jason told me this when he originally moved in. The shelter microchips all pets and is known for keeping pretty intense tabs on owners; I was interrogated for two hours before adopting Perch. Though I don't think they'll reclaim Flip, but I can call to explain the situation in the chance that Jason's future roommates aren't happy with unwittingly becoming full-time pet owners and try to contact the shelter...convoluted, I know. But at least Jason would be barred from future adoption

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Glad you came back. Definitely call the shelter. At the least you find out if there's anything they can do about the situation. They might even be able to tell you where you stand legally in all this.
for Flea and for you.

Yay! I'm so glad you are back.
The landlord locking Jason out would be quite a blessing. But the microchip thing would make for a problem..
Let us know how calling the shelter goes. Maybe they will be on your side..

In a lot of states, if he gets locked out with his "possessions" still inside, he'd have to pay to get the stuff back.  As for live animals, you could contact the rescue he got flea from and they would be forced to intervene.  They would have to take him and consider whether or not Jason would get Flea back.  Most likely not.  If he's homeless and owes a lot of money, and you told them that he didn't even have a litter box for Flea, that it's your litterbox, more than likely Flea would be considered an involuntary return.  If you wanted to adopt Flea, I am sure they would be willing to work out something with you.  It would be legal and there would be nothing Jason could do.  I hope it works out. 

GoldyCat said:

Glad you came back. Definitely call the shelter. At the least you find out if there's anything they can do about the situation. They might even be able to tell you where you stand legally in all this.
for Flea and for you.

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Whatever happens.... I know you'll do your best to make this work for Flea!

i don't know where you are located but what about contacting your local animal control officer?

in my area what your roommate has done could easily be seen as cruelty to animals, at least by a animal control officer that heard the whole story.

from my state's statutes -

fails to give such animal proper care .... or fails to provide it with proper food, drink ...

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Whaler said:

i don't know where you are located but what about contacting your local animal control officer?

in my area what your roommate has done could easily be seen as cruelty to animals, at least by a animal control officer that heard the whole story.

from my state's statutes -

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The thing about that is, depending on where you live, the only thing that will happen to the cat if animal control is called, is it will be put down.  The cat is a rescue and the responsibilty of the rescue.  So they need to intervene for this to end well.

P3 and The King said:

Whaler said:

i don't know where you are located but what about contacting your local animal control officer?


in my area what your roommate has done could easily be seen as cruelty to animals, at least by a animal control officer that heard the whole story.


from my state's statutes -

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The thing about that is, depending on where you live, the only thing that will happen to the cat if animal control is called, is it will be put down.  The cat is a rescue and the responsibilty of the rescue.  So they need to intervene for this to end well.

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no, i more than realize that some acos are real jerks, that is why i pointed out my not knowing where the op lived.

in my area, in a case such as what is being described, if the aco were contacted she (aco) would at least "tighten the screws" to the roommate to try and get him to willfully transfer the cat over.

Whaler said:

no, i more than realize that some acos are real jerks, that is why i pointed out my not knowing where the op lived.

in my area, in a case such as what is being described, if the aco were contacted she (aco) would at least "tighten the screws" to the roommate to try and get him to willfully transfer the cat over.

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The fact that this cat has already been "in the system" it needs to be the rescue responsible called.  Animal control should be the last option called.

P3 and The King said:

The thing about that is, depending on where you live, the only thing that will happen to the cat if animal control is called, is it will be put down.  The cat is a rescue and the responsibilty of the rescue.  So they need to intervene for this to end well.

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Wait - what? The kitty has a home, whether with the person who adopted him or the OP. This isn't some homeless feral or something.

And as Whaler pointed out, how things go with animal control is completely dependent on the ACO and policy in any given town. There's no way to make such a blanket statement.

So, this situation sort of happened to me, although I didn't have such direct ties with the "owner." http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245846/we-might-have-a-problem-with-evies-previous-owner

I think you could probably take him when you move out and get away with it. This guy sounds like a deadbeat, so I doubt he'd come after you for the cat, either personally or through the police/courts. If he really cared that much about his cat, he'd be feeding and taking care of it, so I don't think he's going to go through a lot of effort to try to reclaim it. In my experience, people like him are a lot of talk but little action.

So yeah, I totally condone "stealing" this cat and taking it with you. IMO, he's yours, since you've been taking care of him.

PS -- We did take the precaution of getting Evie chipped in our name and all that. We also had vet records of her care. So you might want to do that.

 l agree with this. lf you were in separate buildings it would be regarded as a neglected stray. Since you're in the same building it has strayed from his room to yours and the feeding and care and responsibility have been transferred to you.

The only stumbling block is the microchip.

Flea is gone...as of twenty minutes ago.

I ended up doing some research (I'm in Chicago, by the way) and the Anti-cruelty society will likely pick up on a report of neglect - this was somewhat confirmed on their website, as well as my various conversations with the staff at Kriser's (the pet store around the block...who've been kept abreast of this situation for a while since I've asked them to keep receipts on what I've spent on Flea.

Jason had been refusing to pay rent until I assured him I'd return his security deposit (which I refused to do until he moved out, as is Illinois law) and made it clear that, if he wasn't getting it back, he would just wait out the month and go. Two days ago, I explained the situation to my landlord and - based on the violent and unsolicited fight with my roommate, my landlord said, "this guy is violent. Just let him leave and don't do anything else to incite him." After being caught with a horrific stomach flu all day yesterday (with Flea keeping me company), I woke up, fed Flea and Perch and snuggled with Flea on his cat bad next to my heater. I went to thank my roommate, Larry, for bringing me blankets and water, then went to tell Jason the rent has been forgiven. That's when I found an empty room (with a painting on the wall - yeah, right, "I didn't damage the property") and Flea gone.

Obviously, I've been weeping since this happened but there's still some hope.I had already decided not to call the anti-cruelty society until Jason was off the premises - honestly, this guy creeps the hell out of me. Seeing how he's behaved thus far (particularly punching my roommate), I didn't know how he'd react toward me (or Perch) if he knew I'd reported him. I've been trying to get his new address from him, as he owes me an extremely large sum in back payment in bills. Luckily, he has a better relationship with Larry (and confided in Larry his disgust that I would dare try to pay $300 for "his Flea"...he doesn't know Larry has been in on the situation since day one), and assures Larry he'll keep him up to date with his new address...as he also owes Larry an overdue gas bill.

Right now, Jason and Flea are at his girlfriend's house avoiding the rent that, ironically, had been forgiven. I have a first and last name, email address and phone number compliments of Larry...Jason will have nothing to do with me because he thinks I "lied" to him about Illinois property law (um, how hard is Google to use?). I'm debating if I should call the shelter now or wait until after February 1st.

If all else fails, as Larry said, this cat has no food, no litter box, nothing at all. It's very likely that he's going to find himself a new owner anyway and it's not going to be Jason. I'm still devastated though, imagining this cat who follows me around like a shadow alone by himself with his "mother" and "brother" suddenly gone.

Awww, Poor Flea.  I hope some how, some way, you are able to get him back.

I hope you feel better soon.

Angels mommy said:

Awww, Poor Flea.  I hope some how, some way, you are able to get him back.
I hope you feel better soon.

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Can't put it any better than that.

and

Poor Flea, this is awful!   Definitely having the Anti-Cruelty society act sounds like the way to go - do you have the girlfriend's address to give them?   It is such a mystery why people who don't want to take care of animals have them.  Big vibes that the right thing happens here!

Not a mystery at all. It gives the nasty little pipsqueaks a feeling of power to control and abuse another living being, no matter that the subject is small and helpless. And if it causes another human being pain and anguish, all the better. Praying for Flea here, too.

Vibes that Fleas escapes and comes back to you!!