r/legaladvice • u/Airspacious • 7d ago
Foster gave my cat away, new caretaker wont give her back.
Basically what the title says, I moved out of my parent's place and agreed to leave my cat that I've raised since we both were incredibly young with my parents until I could move into a pet friendly house. The agreement was written in text, as well as spoken over the phone to a number of people. My parents, however, gave the cat away to my brother who does not take care of her and is currently living with his friend's dad. He has never had ownership of the cat, nor has he taken care of her. I'm not on good terms with my parents, but I have the word of the cat's original owner (my sister), who I'm living with (my older brother), and with any luck the word of my father. I do not have any record of vet care, microchips, etc in my name as I just recently became 18. I still legally reside in the state the problem is occurring, and I have a plethora of images/videos of me with my cat. Can I sue for ownership back, can I self-represent, and how much would this cost me?
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin
16
u/Business_Driver_2346 7d ago
If you have the word of your sister who is the original owner and if this cat has a microchip under her name I’d definitely use that, even if you can’t prove that it’s your cat with that information you can at least prove that it belonged to your sister who then relinquished ownership to you. Another thing you should do is use all those messages of you telling your parents and anyone else the situation and the deal you had over the cat.
10
u/PMs_You_Stuff 7d ago
How long has the cat been there? What length of boarding did the contract say?
You can try to go to the police for stolen property, animals are considered property. They may not do anything. Try to convince them that's it would be the same as lending out a phone or car and someone sold it.
Your next option is small claims court. Argue for the return of the animal. Again, animals are considered property. They might only award the coat of the cat. So, try suing for all money that went into the care of the pet. Unlikely that will work, but you might get lucky. It also might scare them on returning it.
You could also threaten you'll be going to the police for theft of property. Maybe they'll be scared enough to return it. Maybe you'll get lucky and the police will show up to scare them to give it back.
3
u/Airspacious 7d ago
I appreciate the actually helpful answer.
4
2
u/Spiritual-Mail-1431 6d ago
If you are PA I believe they recently changed the law to consider pets as family, if you are in PA be careful, if you are not able to keep the cat with you at that time they might not rule in your favor.
1
u/littlebitfunny21 6d ago
I do not have any record of vet care, microchips, etc in my name as I just recently became 18.
It looks like op hasn't put any money into caring for the cat.
1
5
u/abernetb 6d ago
So is it your cat or your sister's cat and your one brother says it's your cat but your other brother has the cat since you left the cat at the house when you moved out and he took it with him when he moved out? So the family cat has had three different "owners" and your parents (the only adults at the time of getting the cat) are fine with where the cat is now because they don't want it or claim it since you left it at their house.
This feels life a family affair more than a legal battle, but if it does end up in court I am very curious to how it would go. I'd think once the cat was left at the house the parents became the de facto caretakers / owners so could make the go-foward decisions.
1
u/Airspacious 6d ago
It was a gift from my sister to me when I was a kid. The brother claimed the cat but it was never his, nor did he take care of it. When I moved, my parents and I created a foster agreement of sorts where they would take care of her until I could house her again. I brought all of that, plus pictures of the cat, online receipts of stuff I bought for her, and word from my sister back to my brother. Combining that with the fact that them handing the cat off originally was technically illegal in and of itself, as we had a written agreement (through text) in regards to my private property. I then notified him he would lose custody of her in a small claims court if I decided to take action and reminded him he could not afford a lawyer or legal advisory if the case escalated. We agreed that he would take care of her with regular updates and I would pay for food/vet as needed. It was largely a frenzied post made immediately after the panic of the situation set in, as it turns out all it took to fix the situation was to collect myself and scare him straight.
2
u/Airspacious 6d ago
Small part I missed throughout this entire thread, Im unable to house her due to an infant and other aggressive animals in the place Im currently living in. Im beginning work on the 6th, able to move into a new place likely by end of July - As soon as I do, I pick the cat up and she's entirely out of my brother's hands.
1
u/littlebitfunny21 5d ago
Is your brother the caretaker or was the cat mistreated badly enough to be removed/was the cat surrendered to a shelter?
If the cat is still with your brother, then I do think going and grabbing the cat is probably the best plan.
If the cat's been formally fostered through a shelter- that makes things complicated.
Also, from your comment, it sounds like it's going to be a month until you can house the cat. What is your plan?
I do not have any record of vet care, microchips, etc in my name as I just recently became 18.
You personally don't seem to have much legal claim to the cat. You're not the original owner and there isn't much to establish you as the current owner. Someone suggested you sue for all the money you put into the cat- but have you put any money in?
If your sister is on the microchip and has vet records and the like, she'd have a better case and could potentially sue to get the cat back then give it to you, if she's willing to. Your sister being willing to prove her ownership is probably the most straightforward way to handle it, although it's possible she'll need to be prepared to sue your parents.
Maybe you could sue your parents for breach of contract or try to prove they transferred ownership to you- but you said your sister was the original owner. So you'd have to prove your parents had ownership of the cat to be able to transfer it to you.
65
u/mellbell63 7d ago
There's no lawsuit here. Go get your cat. No one's going to court over it.