Neighborhood cat abducted from Morcom Rose Garden, what can we do?
Hi folks, I’m a bit disappointed that I am making this post. I need advice on how to save a neighborhood cat from separation from his owners.
A couple of days ago an anonymous User(u\Kelso-kelso) posted on this subreddit that they had taken a local cat from the Morcom Rose Garden.
As long time walkers in the Piedmont area of Oakland know, there are many neighborhood outdoor cats that commute to and from the garden, cats with homes and owners that they belong to. Many people recognize this as a local cat that has been a staple of the community for years. This cat was not missing, this cat was not feral, this cat was simply taken. Most owners would put up “Missing Cat” posters when they find their cat missing, this User has decided that they are going to skip that step and put up “Found Cat” posters.
It has come to my attention that u/Kelso-kelso has been trying to hide the backlash by blocking local Users that know of this cat and have called them out for this action, pleading for his release, including my top comment on their post.
My question is, what can we do to see that this cat is returned to their life? They reference a Nextdoor post where they informed other people in their neighborhood that they had taken this cat. Could someone with Nextdoor find this post and screenshot it before they take it down so that we can hopefully develop a paper trail if in the future we run into their owner again? The User that took him has refused to release the cat yet additionally has expressed that they can’t keep him forever and will re-home/shelter this cat, so the clock is ticking. This cat is on their way to being, in the best case scenario, separated from their owners forever, and with the lack of shelter space I’m concerned that in the worst case scenario this beautiful tomcat will end up being euthanized.
I want to see this cat returned home, and by that I mean I want him to walk home once more from the Morcom Rose Garden, but with many outdoor cat owners in our neighborhood being older or non-native English speaking, it’s unlikely u/Kelso-kelso, who is adamant about returning only in-person(reward or praise), will find his owner on Reddit. It’s a terrible feeling witnessing this, how can we prevent this in the future? There are many beloved neighborhood cats in the Rose Garden and it takes one eager (and admittedly well-meaning) transplant that hasn’t met cats nor owners in the area to potentially shatter their lives and ours like this. I’m ashamed to be histrionic but I have loved this cat and I’m sure others do too, it’s sad. I’m telling everyone I run into to microchip their cats but at least one person I’ve mentioned this to has said they’re unwilling to spend the money on it. Maybe signs?
ETA: This post isn’t about the right and wrong of letting your cat be an outside cat. Let this be a PSA to not let your cat outside, read the comments of this post and see the negatives. I whole heartedly disagree with allowing a cat to roam outdoors, all of my cats are strictly indoors. Also microchip your cat everyone it’s cheap (~$20). People have contrasting opinions to the ones I keep, and I recognize that and accept that as part of my relative insignificance to the population. Letting a cat roam outdoors and come home when it wants to/can is something I disagree with, but AFAICT we haven’t made this illegal as a city. The original poster has their opinion, I have mine, and that’s fine. I’m still gonna say it sucks.
Anyways, I’m happy people are talking about this now, I hope you all have a happy 4th of July. Cheers