# Please help - Ownership dispute



## eldrak21 (Feb 28, 2012)

Hello all, 
When My wife and I lived at our previous address a cat started to visit us.
Prior to its first visit it had received a bad wound to its back, open and fleshy and we were not sure of what to do.
After staying with us for a couple of minutes it dissapeared but still came to visit every day afterwards.
The wound on its back was not treated in any way unfortunately and it eventually healed itself. This amongst other things led us to believe the cat did not have owners.
Over the next few months we got into the habit of leaving our window open for him to return which he did every day gradually spending more time with us until a point where he started living with us.
All the while he was with us we left the window open for him to 'return' or go about his day. When we came back from work and opened our window it only took about 10 seconds for him to appear.
A couple of months after his initial visit he caught fleas. We left it about a week for any 'owner' of the cat to treat him. When it was evident that no treatment took place from anyone we treated it ourselves.
The cat stayed night and day with us for approximately 5 months before we decided to move home. Because we did not want to throw the cat out on the street with no apparent people looking after him we decided to take him with us to our new address.
Now just after a year later from moving, we received a letter from our previous neighbour stating she thinks she has found his owner and would like to have him back.
During the 5 months that he was actually living with us at our previous address we put a collar, name tag, address and phone number on him on two seperate occasions ( as he came back from his wanders without them) and never once did anyone contact us claiming he was their cat. Our previous neighbour ( whom is quite a nosey body around the area) even suggested we take him with us as he is well cared for with us.
The cat has lived with us for approximately 1 and a half years with no sign or hint of anyone showing any interest in his well being until now and as you can imagine he is now a very big part of our family and we do not wish to give him up.
We have fed, loved and looked after this cat, including vet checkups and are quite distraught at having just received this letter from our neighbour advising that the 'owner' would like him back.

Can you please advise us where we stand legally with rights to the cat? If we were sure he had a loving and caring home to go back to we would never have taken him from his previous area but all evidence suggests this was not the case. We love this cat very very much and really feel the love from him and are very worried about this situation.

Many Thanks in advance for your help


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## CDC (Jul 20, 2010)

Hello,

I'm not 100% sure on the legalities but I would guess you need to try and provide proof of ownership in a dispute. This would probably include proof of purchase if applicable, micro-chip registration, veterinary registration, insurance, pictures with date stamps of the length of time he's lived with you etc. 

Has the cat been checked for a micro chip that would link him to previous owners?

Can the 'owners' prove ownership in a stronger capacity than you can e.g. was he already chipped, did they register him anywhere as missing when you first took him to your new home, did they report him as stolen etc? 

Is the previous neighbour 100% sure after all this time that the 'owners' are genuine?

I would perhaps suggest contacting the owner (if they are the 'real' owners) and attempting to resolve this amicably i.e. asking if they will let you keep the cat and getting something in writing to that effect. 

If they are able to prove original purchase and any other proof of ownership then you might need to consider further civil action if you cant come to some agreement. 

Hope you can get it resolved, it sounds like your home is far better for the cat than the one they are potentially offering given his past treatment.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

This poor cat was not looked after until you took him in.
I am sorry but I would tell your x neighbour that you no longer have the cat. If they want to know what happened just say that since you moved he wandered off.
I know it's a Fib but he is part of your family and he likes being with you.
By Fibbing you only have his best interests at heart so you will be forgiven!!
When he had the wound to his back and the flea's the owner did nothing to treat it so I think that he or she does not deserve to have him back.

I doubt if the previous owner had him micro chipped but I would see if he is.
I think that would be the only legal thing that might be proof of owner ship.

The cat has choose you and so you must do all you can to keep him safe.
Good luck.


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## catlover0581 (Jan 14, 2012)

failing the above suggestion (genius imo) you could send the letter back, with return to sender on it...i would not let go of YOUR cat if i were you

the 'real'owners want him back?! whatever, the real owners already have him!  x


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## jenny armour (Feb 28, 2010)

i would first of all find out if he is microchipped. if he is not and being as these so called owners didnt even bother to get him seen to by a vet when he needed it, then i wouldnt think they would bother with microchippingt. i would then get him microchipped yourselves. that is your proof that he belongs to you and it is their word against yours.
do these so called owners liver near you or know where you live?


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## ChinaBlue (Feb 3, 2008)

Concur with above; do get him checked for a microchip - if he hasn't got one then get it done registering you as the owner.

If the previous "owners" wanted him back did they do anything about the fact he has been missing for over a year i.e. did they put posters up in their area, check with RSPCA/CPL or other rescues to see if he was taken there? I very much doubt they did anything. I presume your old neighbour hasn't given these people your new address - nor should they without your permission! Should you wish to resolve the dispute I guess you could, perhaps through your old neighbour, offer them a small sum of money to "buy" the cat i.e. £25 for instance but I really don't believe you should as they appear to have been very very negligent uncaring owners.

Keep us updated!


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## welshjet (Mar 31, 2011)

You said about vet checks etc, did you have/keep/get copies of bills for and consultations treatments etc, i would also pass these on perhaps saying "if your cat, here is what i have paid vet as a responsible owner, you you are now saying he's yours, by all means but i want payment of the bills from you first, he came to me as a stray, i made enquiries, nothing came back, cared and looked after what was a stray cat, been a responsible owner and even microchipped him and registered at vets"

Worth a go.


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