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Liberal_in_LA

(44,397 posts)
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 03:31 PM Jul 2015

cat custody battle. woman tracks down lost cat 7 years later. current owner won't give him up [View all]

He’s 10 years old, and his two moms are fighting over who he should live with. One is a Fairfield woman who once bottle-fed him, the other a retired nurse in Kenwood who has taken care of him for more than five years.

Also, he’s a cat.




What sounds like a custody case is actually a bizarre ownership battle over a shorthair tuxedo cat named David — or Whiley, depending on who you ask.
The two women are asking a Sonoma County court to decide who should legally possess the feline after he went missing, and was adopted, before the original owner tracked him down via his injected microchip seven long years later.
-----


The search for feline began after he wandered away from his Fairfield home in 2007, when he was 2. Reifler said her client had just moved to the area, so David likely didn’t know his way around.

Distressed, Mestas put up flyers around the Solano County, offered a $1,000 reward and volunteered at local animal shelters to keep an eye out for him.
After seven years of searching, she finally tracked him down last year with the help of the cat’s identification chip.

But Reifler said that when her client contacted Weczorek, she wouldn’t give him up. Mestas even drove to Weczorek’s house in Kenwood and asked to see her former companion — but Weczorek declined.


http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Whose-cat-is-that-Bay-Area-women-square-off-in-6391216.php


25 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
original owner should get cat back
7 (28%)
let new owner keep him
18 (72%)
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Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll
58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Sad for both, but I'd return him REP Jul 2015 #1
New owner is retired senior. does that influence your decision? Liberal_in_LA Jul 2015 #3
Nope. REP Jul 2015 #32
Not neglectful? Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jul 2015 #9
Cats can get out, especially after being moved to a new house REP Jul 2015 #33
I agree -- I see it as a matter of due diligence rocktivity Jul 2015 #16
If he was microchipped, he should have been returned tblue37 Jul 2015 #45
Cats should be kept indoors for their health CreekDog Jul 2015 #20
An indoor-only cat can still sneak outside REP Jul 2015 #35
yes they can CreekDog Jul 2015 #38
I guess I misunderstood your reply to my post then REP Jul 2015 #41
Yes, I basically agree CreekDog Jul 2015 #43
my cats used to take naps all the time olddots Jul 2015 #2
After 7 years, the cat should be with the new owner WestCoastLib Jul 2015 #4
It sounds as though the rescue operator made the original mistake, petronius Jul 2015 #5
Perhaps that cat rescue can offer a cat free of charges to the original owner... cascadiance Jul 2015 #14
7 years? I support the new owner! nt Logical Jul 2015 #6
Let the cat decide. Put him in a carrier, open it in neutral territory CharlotteVale Jul 2015 #7
Threaten to cut the cat in half.. No wait that's babies MattBaggins Jul 2015 #52
WTF?! It's sick and creepy to joke about hurting animals. CharlotteVale Jul 2015 #56
feel bad for both restorefreedom Jul 2015 #8
I had that happen Warpy Jul 2015 #10
it's a tough one but I think I would do as you did Skittles Jul 2015 #37
Yep. That's how cats are. hunter Jul 2015 #39
I honestly can't decide. Very sad though. stevenleser Jul 2015 #11
Neither. Let the cat decide. Cleita Jul 2015 #12
Holy cats! Those two towns are nearly 40 miles apart! KamaAina Jul 2015 #13
I have to vote for the current owner Travis_0004 Jul 2015 #15
I would ask the cat who he wants to go with. nt Guy Whitey Corngood Jul 2015 #17
Who cares which owner gets him - what counts is what's best for the cat tularetom Jul 2015 #18
Two mommies who love him... Laffy Kat Jul 2015 #19
As I mentioned upthread, kitteh would be facing a 40-mile drive each way every weekend. KamaAina Jul 2015 #26
Hmmm, that's true. How 'bout a once a month switch off. Laffy Kat Jul 2015 #34
The cat is the property of the orignal owner unless there is some statute to the contrary. nt ladjf Jul 2015 #21
Fuck that. Kids and pets are not "property." hunter Jul 2015 #40
what does the cat say? pansypoo53219 Jul 2015 #22
"Meow". KamaAina Jul 2015 #28
"King Solomon he never lived round here." johnp3907 Jul 2015 #23
First thing I thought of. Adsos Letter Jul 2015 #29
Mine is microchipped Aerows Jul 2015 #24
I strenuously object to the premise of this poll. KamaAina Jul 2015 #25
lol. u are right Liberal_in_LA Jul 2015 #42
After all this time, it's very unlikely this cat remembers his original owner. LisaL Jul 2015 #27
Uh Hu? angryvet Jul 2015 #30
The new owner's story seems a little suspiciously convenient. n/t PoliticAverse Jul 2015 #54
This message was self-deleted by its author 0rganism Jul 2015 #31
All things being equal, I'm for the new owner. aikoaiko Jul 2015 #36
Had that happen with a dog Egnever Jul 2015 #44
I don't want to make light of this ballabosh Jul 2015 #46
Seven years is way too long romanic Jul 2015 #47
The cat would be heartbroken to be taken from the home it knows. herding cats Jul 2015 #48
It's selfish to want the cat back after 7 years, imo, unless if the cat has a bad home. Oneironaut Jul 2015 #49
I have two dogs that I adopted from the pound XemaSab Jul 2015 #50
That should be "owner." With quotes. Nevernose Jul 2015 #51
This really isn't about the cat. ancianita Jul 2015 #53
I have a third option. U4ikLefty Jul 2015 #55
I had a similar thing happen only I was the new "mom." Vinca Jul 2015 #57
To original owner- pay the reward, 7 years of vet costs & about $10/20 a day boarding cost, Sunlei Jul 2015 #58
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