Our cat stolen in FL, now in MI -- what can we do?

[siobhan]

My husband and I adopted a cat (Jemima) from a local shelter. Unfortunately, our cat at home had an upper respiratory infection so we had to board Jemima with the shelter for a few days. We went to see her every single day. During that time, a man and his wife came into the shelter and asked the shelter owner if they could adopt Jemima. The shelter owner told them that Jemima belonged to someone else and they could not have her. The couple filled out paperwork to adopt a different cat but then decided not to adopt that cat. A few days later, the same couple came into the shelter on the pretense of wanting to look at another cat and while the elderly volunteer's back was turned, they stole our Jemima and ran out of the shelter.

The shelter owner contacted them by telephone. The man admitted that they knew the cat was not available for adoption and that she belonged to someone else, but he said his wife wanted her, so they took her unlawfully anyway. He said they have now brought Jemima to Richland, Michigan. I have all their contact information for their homes in Michigan and in Florida, including where this man works (thanks to the internet). I left him two nice messages offering to come to Michigan to pick up Jemima. He didn't respond.

We then filed a police report with a deputy sheriff of Palm Beach County. She contacted him by phone and left a message telling him to call her back. So far, there has been no response.

Is there anything else we can do? Can we go to Michigan and ask the police there to help us?

Thank you for any advice. We love and miss our cat very badly and all we want is to get her back.

Siobhan

[Scruit]

You need police weight behind you.

Normally the value of a pet is it's cost. The cost would put it in small claims court, and Samll Claims Court normally doe snot have the power to order Repleven (to order the return of property) that is being disputed.

HOWEVER, taking the cat was an act of THEFT - you should conact you local police and file a report - they can be made to answer to theft charges back in your local court. Maybe you can talk to your local DA and offer them dropped charges in return for giving the cat back?

Either way, it was an act of theft and I would hope that the court could force them to return the cat.

[siobhan]

Hello, and thank you for responding. You might have missed in my last post that we had filed a police report last Sunday. Unfortunately, that sheriff's deputy just didn't want to follow up. We drove by the thief's house on Tuesday night and we were pretty sure he was there. At that point, I began to suspect that he had not left Florida at all. On Wednesday, the deputy said he had not called her back, but again, she wasn't taking any action saying our case was weak at best. I begged her to go to the guy's house, but she said that should be a last resort. Well, what steps was she taking before last resort? Nothing! That day, while on hold for her and looking at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office website, I had discovered that the thief had an arrest record for Grand Theft & Burglary from 2002. Even mentioning that to the deputy didn't seem to motivate her to do anything. She told me my best odds were a civil case.

I had previously tracked down the thief's father in Michigan and found the name of the car dealership he owned. I called him. I felt sorry for him. He basically said his son was a loser and he didn't think he could help, but he did give me one important piece of info: his son had never left Florida and the cat was still here.

We went to the sheriff's office and talked to a different deputy. He was surprised that the other deputy hadn't gone to the thief's house. He suggested we go to the police dept with jurisdiction over the thief's house and tell them we were going over to his house and would appreciate a police escort in case of an altercation. We decided to drive by the thief's house first to make sure someone was home before wasting police time.

As we drove by, we noticed 2 doors down a police car. The officer was talking to a neighbor. We approached him and explained our story and asked for his help. He was absolutely amazing!!!! He went to the thief's door and confronted him. The thief gave him total attitude, would you believe! No respect whatsoever for a police officer! We got the shelter owner on the phone so she could confirm our story to the officer and also gave him a copy of the adoption contract showing we had adopted the cat. The officer got angry then and told the thief that what had once been petty theft and a misdemeanor was now going to be malicious theft and a felony because he was refusing to cooperate with an officer of the law even when he was being shown all the documentation that showed we owned the cat. The thief still gave the officer attitude! At that point, the officer said that he was going to call out his sergeant and take this guy down to the station to talk further. Well, that did it. Moments later, Jemima was back in my arms.

I owe that officer an incredible debt. I would like to a letter to send to his sergeant and chief of police commending him for all that he did. In my opinion, he went way way way above the call of duty to help us. What an example of someone protecting and serving! Is there anything else I can do to honor this officer? Is a letter to his sergeant and chief of police a good thing? Or is there something else I can do as well?

Thank you so much for reading this. I do appreciate your help.

Siobhan

[mcsap]

How about a nice letter to the editor of the local newspaper ?

[DepDog]

Send a letter to the Chief.

[wild800]

I am so glad that you got your kitty back, and I am sorry that the first officer didn't go as far as the second one did to help you out. I think it is a great idea for you to send a letter to the Chief of Police of the Officer who helped you retrieve your pet, and the letter to the editor of the paper would also be a nice touch.

[christrue]

I am entirely happy that the police were able to get back
your dear Jemima.

I can hardly believe the man had the absolute gall to
give police attitude. Nice that being under threat of an official discussion at the police station got the cat safely returned to your arms.