Tragic,malicious, killing of families cat - Please advise - have meeting with authorities this morni

letemlive

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I will expand more later but have to make this brief as we have to leave soon to meet with the captain of the sheriff department whose  Animal Control Officer killed our daughter's and son n laws cat.  A feral cat they had rescued and who had become a wonderful loving member of th e family. The ACO allowed a friend / acquaintance to manipulate her into killing kitty.

So you'll understand here's a brief background:

The neighbor in the name of helping took kitty to a local vet not our vet.  Planning on convincing the vet to endorse her effort to have kitty killed...this neighbor had been convicted of stealing from our kid's friends and suspected of stealing from our kid's house and others.  So they all quit inviting her to parties/cookouts---couldn't afford the extra security if she had been there so this was her twisted revenge    

The vet told the girl emphatically to take kitty back to kitty’s owner's house and leave her instead she called her ACO friend and convinced her the vet had said there was nothing that could be done for kitty... Complete and blatant lie.

But it works...the ACO found her a facility that allows her to kill at will and without making any effort what so ever to contact the owners, she kills the cat. Within one hour of a vet examine her and finding her ok to go home  the laws require the cat to be taken to a shelter and held 3 days even in situations where animal is in critical condition. The ACO must attempt a min of 2 hours to contact owner.  We were not contacted until 4 days after she killed kitty; over those 4 days the neighbor made up 4 completely false stories of what happened to kitty   

We are looking for advice from anyone who has experienced anything like this. We meet with the capt. this morning. Are we justified in demanding the ACO’s removal from animal services and the prosecution of the neighbor?

 
 
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stephenq

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I have no immediate advice except to offer shock at this tragic and awful situation.  There are unlikely to be any ACO's reading this thread in time to advise you prior to your meeting.

I'm not sure you are justified in demanding anything, and demands are often met by resistance, but I think you are justified in asking questions and you are justified in asking for an explanation, and if you don't get a suitable one then you can talk to Asst District Attorney.

For those reading the thread and don't know what an ACO is, it's an Animal Control Officer.
 
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Winchester

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I took the liberty of editing your post as it's very difficult to read all capital letters. 

I don't know that we have any Animal Control Officers on the site. Your best bet is to attend the meeting and ask any and all questions you have. I hope you can get some answers to this horrid situation.

My heart goes out to you over the loss of you little kitty.
 

autumnrose74

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I'm finding the entire scenario very hard to follow.

Whose cat is it, exactly? You say the cat belongs to your daughter/son-in-law, but then you say a neighbor took the cat to the vet. Who is the neighbor you are mentioning - is the neighbor the ACO or a friend/acquaintance of the ACO? And outside of that, if the cat belongs to your daughter, why does the neighbor have access to the cat and, thus, was able to take it to the vet without permission?

I tend to give posts like this the side-eye - too much drama and it is all hearsay to start with. If nothing else, this is a good lesson in keeping cats indoors and on private property, preferably supervised, so no one else has access to them.
 
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letemlive

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StephenQ Thank you for your reply.  You are absolutely correct about demands.  Even when your position is strong enough for demands it has been my experience you will be more successful with almost any approach than demanding.  No one likes demands.  Poor choice of my words when rushing thru the post earlier.

I have found that in every situation if i first approach the situation with a genuine desire "to seek first to understand" i end up with a much clearer, objective understanding of the situation.  

the incident I posted about occurred on 4/25/14  i spent  over a week investigating the incident.  I interviewed anyone who had any input at all   It became very clear what had happened.  

we did meet with the captain and a Lt. of the sheriff's department this morning.  Fortunately we have a very good sheriff's dept. there.  i gave them a detailed accounting along with supporting documents including a detailed time line(apx 27 pages)     they are taking appropriate actions with both the aco (for now)  

 Ihink a better description of what I am looking for is what others in a similar situation have experienced, what were the result

your advise about the asst.D.A.is excellent.   We have a solicitor here with asst. solicitors of course.  we have spoken with the solicitor and he is ready if the sheriff's dept. doesn't take care of it... I'm confident the sheriff dept will take good care of it

apologies to all about the caps.  Winchester thanks for editing    
 
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letemlive

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I'm finding the entire scenario very hard to follow.

Whose cat is it, exactly? You say the cat belongs to your daughter/son-in-law, but then you say a neighbor took the cat to the vet. Who is the neighbor you are mentioning - is the neighbor the ACO or a friend/acquaintance of the ACO? And outside of that, if the cat belongs to your daughter, why does the neighbor have access to the cat and, thus, was able to take it to the vet without permission?

I tend to give posts like this the side-eye - too much drama and it is all hearsay to start with. If nothing else, this is a good lesson in keeping cats indoors and on private property, preferably supervised, so no one else has access to them.
Autumnrose74

"our daughter's and son n laws cat" neighbor took the cat  aco killed the cat  --hopefully that' clears up an y confusion

I find the lesson learned in you reply puzzling  if not troubling .... you advocate we should hide / secure all of our cats inside.  How about we advocate people do not trespass and steal. and here's one for you to ponder how about we demand local law enforcement at at least obey the laws they are paid to enforce.    

As to your comment " it is all hearsay to start with."  please enlighten ;... I'm not sure where you got your JD but i am pretty sure I had the hearsay thing down early in my undergrad journalism studies
 

stephenq

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StephenQ Thank you for your reply.  You are absolutely correct about demands.  Even when your position is strong enough for demands it has been my experience you will be more successful with almost any approach than demanding.  No one likes demands.  Poor choice of my words when rushing thru the post earlier.

I have found that in every situation if i first approach the situation with a genuine desire "to seek first to understand" i end up with a much clearer, objective understanding of the situation.  

the incident I posted about occurred on 4/25/14  i spent  over a week investigating the incident.  I interviewed anyone who had any input at all   It became very clear what had happened.  

we did meet with the captain and a Lt. of the sheriff's department this morning.  Fortunately we have a very good sheriff's dept. there.  i gave them a detailed accounting along with supporting documents including a detailed time line(apx 27 pages)     they are taking appropriate actions with both the aco (for now)  

 Ihink a better description of what I am looking for is what others in a similar situation have experienced, what were the result

your advise about the asst.D.A.is excellent.   We have a solicitor here with asst. solicitors of course.  we have spoken with the solicitor and he is ready if the sheriff's dept. doesn't take care of it... I'm confident the sheriff dept will take good care of it

apologies to all about the caps.  Winchester thanks for editing    
Thank you for the great update, and the clarifications.  It sounds like you handled it very well, hopefully there will be some positive resolutions and corrections issued.
 

jodiethierry64

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So sad!!
Where I live, people are not found of felines! Our A.C.O.'s usually will side with the anti feline person.
I pray you get justice for this poor kitty!!!
 

fruitcake

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Omg that is just awful!!!! Im so sorry that is wrong on so many levels!!
 

di and bob

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Can they have the neighbor get a psychiatric evaluation? There is one proven thing, if people are capable of hurting or killing an animal, they are definitely able to hurt/kill a human being! Look at the 'beginning' serial killer, almost ALWAYS starts out with animals. I would make her life as miserable as possible within the law. Unfortunately, the law doesn't do much for protecting animals, but your cat was YOUR possession and she took something from you and destroyed it. Please ask your daughter and son in law to accept my condolences on the loss of your precious baby, I know how much it hurts.  I wish you all the best and please keep us posted on what you find out.
 

eliza43

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I'm so sorry about your kitty! Poor little one. :(

You might see if there are leash laws in your area and if they apply to cats as well as to dogs. If not, maybe you could file charges for theft of property. 

Also, was kitty microchipped? If so, this might help your case regarding proof of ownership and negligence of the kill-clinic to check the chip and notify the true owner. . 

I don't know the whole situation, but I hope this helps. Again, I'm so sorry for your kitty!
 

feralvr

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I am so taken back by this story with a heavy heart. What a beautiful cat and such a great loss. I, too, am a bit confused as to why the neighbor would want the cat killed in the first place. I can't wrap my head around people like that.... :shame: I do hope that you and your family can get some resolution and assistance in the name and to honor this poor kitty. :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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