This is a cat story from Edinburgh, Scotland. Although the facts are not clear or complete, I have decided that this is a rare case of someone saving someone else’s cat from mistreatment by taking the cat to the local rescue center. Do you know of anyone who has done that?
As I read the situation, a cat was abandoned in the grounds of a rescue center managed by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA).
With the cat, who was named Mr Pickles by the shelter, came a note:
“Please look after this cat. It is being mistreated.”
Mr Pickles is semi-longhaired and a tabby moggie. The center has no idea who left Mr Pickles or why. Mr Pickles appeared to be in good condition but the assistant manager at the centre, Kenny Sharpe said:
“He is friendly….but absolutely terrified.”
Is he terrified because he was mistreated or because of his changed circumstances? We don’t know.
However, it would be strange if a person who was mistreating a cat handed him in and left the note referred to.
It is more likely that the person who handing the cat in shares a home with someone or knows of someone who was mistreating Mr Pickles and decided enough was enough.
If that is the case he/she has a heart although he refers to Mr Pickles as “it”.
This is a rare occurrence I would say. It is quite a tricky thing to do because technically it could be theft. It would depend on the ownership of the cat. The ownership may have been confused. What I mean is Mr Pickles could have been rescued and ownership shared between a group of people, one of whom was the person who wrote the note.
Perhaps the person who wrote the note was too ashamed to hand in Mr Pickles in person but realised he was no good as a cat caretaker.
I rescued a kitten, but I didn’t turn him in. I kept him. His collar was so tight around his neck it would have embedded itself into his flesh in another month or so. Cut the collar off, took him to the vet. The rest, as they say, is history.
Good point. He/she could have covered up his own failures or as you say didn’t want to mess around with paperwork.
I have done the same thing but I actually walked into the shelter and handed the abused cat to them,sounds like it could have been the owner and just didnt want to deal with paper work and being questioned!
“Saving someone else’s cat from mistreatment”
Many times.
We may never know what ‘ Mr. Pickles ‘ home environment was really like or if he came under the crossfire of a domestic dispute?
It could be as simple as the note reads.
Eva