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23rd January 2019 at 3:58 pm #41996
Hi all, I know this isn’t gambling related but maybe someone on here will be able to give me advice, or has dealt with a similar situation themselves. This is quite long so I apologise.
Basically I have had my cat P.T.S by the RSPCA because I had failed to find him within 7 days. On the 14/01/19 he was let outside, by the 18/01/19 with no sign of him returning despite checking the local area we decided to start advertising him as lost on public Facebook pages and started to phone local vets. We didn’t get much response or many shares, even the vets didn’t seem to be answering their phones. A couple of people on nearby streets were almost certain he had been in the area so we continued to check the streets.
I continued searching for lost/found pets matching his description but there was nothing coming up within the area.
On the 21/01/19 it was my daughter’s 6th birthday, due to being busy we only rechecked the local vets we hadn’t managed to previously ask. That night, just after midnight, I came across a listing on ww.petslocated.com, it was my cat listed as found in my postcode on the 14/01/19, the same day he had been let out.
I was so relieved and wanted to contact the finder as soon as possible but that required paying for a membership on the website and listing my lost pet. So I bought the membership and immediately left messages. I was hoping for a response by the morning but by 10am and no reply I was getting worried. I had updated the missing posts on Facebook to say I found his advert and I was waiting for a response when someone warned me that it could be removed from the site within 7-10 days, and suggested an RSPCA animal hospital to phone, because the listing was anonymous I had no idea where he was unless I had a reply from the finder very quickly.
We started phoning the suggested RSPCA aswell as others in the area. When we finally managed to speak to someone they said they don’t have the information about any collected animals but took the details and said I would be contacted. 2-3 hours later, I received the phone call. They had my cat, and had started treating him for an ear infection. They don’t keep animals longer than 7 days so on the 21/01/19 they assessed his suitability for rehoming. His ear infection hadn’t cleared up in the 7 days so they deemed him unsuitable for re-home and put him to sleep.
24 hours was the only thing that stood between me finding my cat alive and finding him dead ?
The post on Facebook has had people already telling me how this my own fault, because he was unchipped and un-neutered, so therefore the blame lies with me for being irresponsible ?
I can’t get over this happening. He wasn’t even missing. I had such a small time frame to find him, he could have lived ?, I feel awful and now I need to collect his body and find somewhere for animal cremation.
Some people probably agree that I deserve this, but I feel broken and lost over this ?
I think my sister has mentioned this to you already bandit, I just want to see if anyone knows what I should/could do, if anything ?
*I edited the link out as it was a bit messy at the bottom of the post but included the picture it showed.* (Seedy – Forum Admin)
23rd January 2019 at 4:34 pm #42051There is no way that you deserve this Ashleigh, it’s a difficult one to reply to because there are of course two sides to each story and we are not really aware of how bad the little fellas ears were – for the RSPCA to make this sort of decision i would hope it was a qualified decision as i haven’t really heard of stuff like this happening before when the RSPCA are involved. It is a sad time for sure as i have just gone through the loss of a pet and the worst thing about it for me were the kids and their reactions, time will heal your hurt i hope.
I would suggest that if you were to get yourself another cat in the future, just make sure you get a microchip in place purely so that this sort of thing cannot happen again, really sorry for your loss and current sadness but it most certainly isn’t your fault so please do not blame yourself.
1123rd January 2019 at 4:41 pm #42055Awful for you to go through. Unfortunately your cat would have been assessed and the RSPCA would have made the decision based on a criteria (I know that sounds harsh) but due to them not knowing if your cat was a stray and the difficulties in rehoming with the ear infection/costs of curing/if it could be cured made the decision that they did.
I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but please get any current/future pets microchipped. It’s not expensive and if they ever do run away or go missing it makes it so easy to track the owners down.
Hope the family are ok
23rd January 2019 at 4:45 pm #42059Yeah the bandit has probably put it better than anyone else here probably can.
Microchips are such an essential part of owning pets nowadays, with theft etc,. Becoming a common occurrence. I’d say with outdoor cats they’d be no.1 priority because we all know cats can go missing for days on end and then turn up a few weeks later.
The situation (as shitty as it is) is nobody’s fault really it’s just one of those things that sometimes we can’t control.
Cant imagine to think what it’s like losing a pet, I’d be devastated if anything happened to our George so can’t imagine how you feel, but in future please make micro chipping your first priority if you decide to get another Cat! ?
23rd January 2019 at 4:49 pm #42062We were in the middle of treating his ears ourselves as recommended by a different vet who assessed him less than a month ago and made no indication that it was too severe.
I don’t think I can get over the time limit, if I had found the obscure advert they listed where they put his description as “mainly white” instead of black and white, even in the same postcode it didn’t show me his advert for missing cat in the area due to the colour discrepancy ?
They reiterated the fact that they don’t keep animals longer than 7 days, and due to the ear infection not being resolved in this time it appears that they don’t explore any further treatment or spend any more time on the animal and euthanise instead, now I’m trying to find somewhere to cremate his body and unless it was a mass cremation I will pay for the privelage of getting my cats ashes ?
My daughter has only just let this sink in, but her birthday will always have another reason to remember from now on ?
Thanks for replying, there’s probably nothing to be done, I will never stop feeling guilty about not finding him sooner and not having him chipped. He had such a unique character, we miss him so much ?
23rd January 2019 at 4:54 pm #42068You shouldn’t feel guilty over it. Cats are natural explorers and as Michael said it’s not uncommon for them to go missing for long periods of time.
23rd January 2019 at 5:28 pm #42091There are a number of reasons as to why the Rspca are at fault in this case
1. The website that they use to advertise lost and found animals is ridiculously difficult to navigate and in order to contact them about an advert you need to pay and register.. Just think how many issues this could cause for people who may not have been payed yet or haven’t got access to their bank card..endless possibilities but there is no information whatsoever put on the advert to indicate who is posting it or how to contact them so you need to pay to even have a slight chance
2. The cat wasn’t even lost to begin with and was clearly in good health aside from a small issue with his ears which ashleigh has explained were in the middle of treating but the problem wasn’t severe enough to affect his overall wellbeing. I’ve seen people commenting on the Facebook Post defending their decision of putting him down because they’re overrun with animals and have no other option but to dispose of them, which is already inhumane but he wasn’t unwell enough to fit any description of ‘unsuitable to rehome’ as you can see on the advert they posted for him he looks clean, well fed and alive. They should be professional enough to know that he wasn’t a stray cat and he didn’t need rescuing.
3. He was ‘found’ on the 14th January: the same day he was let out of the house and yet the advert didn’t appear to be posted on petslocated until the 18th. He was euthanized on the 21st meaning they actually gave him 3 days to be claimed before they made the decision that he wasn’t worthy of life any more. They massively fucked up by describing him as all/mainly white as he is CLEARLY black and white and this mistake alone cost him his life as ashleigh would have found him sooner had they put the right description. What a stupid move on their part considering they follow a policy which allows them only 7 days of care before they’re rehomed or killed.
4. 7 days – for such a huge, multi million pound organisation you’d think all animals deserve longer than 7 days regardless of whether they are chipped or not. This policy is outrageous and according to their website they provide the best vetenary care to all animals and rehome them where possible. They didn’t even give him a chance. The issue he had didn’t affect his health in any way shape or form, they simply just couldn’t be bothered to treat him any longer and disposed of him, adding him to a pile of all the other thousands of animals they euthanise daily due to their neglect of care or interest. Being chipped has nothing to do with the fact that they showed no compassion or care for this animal, where does all of the money donated go to if its not helping animals? Its a fucking disgrace and they should be shut down for practising such harsh, cruel and unfair policies.
23rd January 2019 at 5:29 pm #42093This is horrible and unfortunately far from the first time I’ve heard of the RSPCA killing people’s much loved pets. Seems to be a common MO, preventing cruelty to animals by quickly killing them.
Very sorry for your loss.
23rd January 2019 at 5:31 pm #420945. Ashleigh registered him as lost on the website at around midnight 22nd January, hours after he had been euthanized. On their twitter page they had shared the advert on the 20th January, 1 day before. Twitter is a huge platform and if they had posted it there sooner he would have been found. How could they post it knowing they were going to kill him the next day? How is that fair? Not only that but they then shared ashleighs advert on the 22nd after he was already pts. The pictures clearly show it is the same cat. They should be completely ashamed of themselves for letting this happen.
6. Finally this point is the most important. People are defending the Rspca by using the fact that he wasn’t chipped as a justification for him being put to sleep or having such a short opportunity to be found. If he had been chipped there are many occasions where the owner isn’t contactable or even they can’t locate the chip. So how anyone could use this as a reason to blame ashleigh is beyond me because the chip is NOT the reason he is dead. It was a neglect of care from a supposed to be trusted establishment whose sole purpose is to rescue and care for animals. Yes this could have been avoided but the real problem here and the only people to blame are the vets who decided he wasn’t worthy and the RSPCA for their outrageous policies
23rd January 2019 at 5:36 pm #42095Most certainly is not your fault Ashleigh.
I have 2 cats and i adore them. I also lost my Cat felix 2 years ago in febuary this year. He was not tagged either. But he was either poisined or ran over. I could not say what killed him because i found him at the side of the road without a mark on him. Im still gut wrenched now when i think about him whilst typing this. Again truly this is not your fault. Its just bad timing and theres absolutely nothing i can say to make you feel better.
But like a few have said. Please get another cat it helps immensly trust me. When i got my little Cleo at 2 months old my heart melted.
Do some kind of memorial for your lost little one too.
I was heavily into editing or trying to edit videos when my Felix was lost. So i made a video for him. I will post the link from Youtube on this thread.
i hope it helps.
Much love my friend and big hugs X
23rd January 2019 at 5:40 pm #4209623rd January 2019 at 5:41 pm #42097shared on their twitter 20/01 just hours before he was put to sleep. Tell me this cat looks too unwell to recover from a small ear infection.
23rd January 2019 at 5:43 pm #42098shared on 22/01 hours after he had been put to sleep. We are just devastated by the carelessness of the rspca but it’s just one of many horror stories regarding them.
23rd January 2019 at 5:44 pm #42099@Just basics
I’m so sorry for your cats unresolved death, it’s awful how your cat potentially was overlooked by someone intentionally ?
What hit me most about your post is that Cleo was also my cat’s name ?, we got him as a kitten and were told it was a girl, after a couple of months we kept the name even after finding out it was a boy ?
Thank you for your support x
1123rd January 2019 at 5:45 pm #421005. Ashleigh registered him as lost on the website at around midnight 22nd January, hours after he had been euthanized. On their twitter page they had shared the advert on the 20th January, 1 day before. Twitter is a huge platform and if they had posted it there sooner he would have been found. How could they post it knowing they were going to kill him the next day? How is that fair? Not only that but they then shared ashleighs advert on the 22nd after he was already pts. The pictures clearly show it is the same cat. They should be completely ashamed of themselves for letting this happen.
6. Finally this point is the most important. People are defending the Rspca by using the fact that he wasn’t chipped as a justification for him being put to sleep or having such a short opportunity to be found. If he had been chipped there are many occasions where the owner isn’t contactable or even they can’t locate the chip. So how anyone could use this as a reason to blame ashleigh is beyond me because the chip is NOT the reason he is dead. It was a neglect of care from a supposed to be trusted establishment whose sole purpose is to rescue and care for animals. Yes this could have been avoided but the real problem here and the only people to blame are the vets who decided he wasn’t worthy and the RSPCA for their outrageous policies
No one is defending the RSPCA in the decision that they made. I agree that it looks like they did not provide a reasonable time frame regarding this; all that is being pointed out is that it is important to have any pet micro-chipped as it does help with the identification process. At no point has anyone blamed Ashleigh and I truly believe that everyone who has posted is very sympathetic to what has happened. No one wants to see an animal put to sleep, especially if it is a family pet and the family are doing everything they can to locate their pet.
The RSPCA will not always attempt to re-home animals that have any signs of infection due to potential complications or spreading of infection to other animals. I am not defending what they have done in this case, but I dont think its fair to say that everyone is having a go at Ashleigh and justifying what the RSPCA did over a micro-chip
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