NYC Woman Kidnaps Cats, provides vet care...

but doesn't always return them to their owners.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/221402p-190219c.html

She's the cunning catnapper of Boerum Hill, collecting wayward kitties off the streets, mending their wounds and fixing them - for good. Claire Angelica says she has taken in hundreds of cats in the last decade, spending thousands of dollars a year to fix their broken bones, stitch their cuts and get them spayed or neutered.

"If people don't take care of their problems, someone has to," she said yesterday at her Wyckoff St. home in Brooklyn, where she lives with 10 cats and 10 dogs.

But some of her neighbors complain that Angelica, 59, has grabbed cats belonging to heartbroken families and worried shopkeepers.

She nabs them in the backyards or the front yards, and that's it: Fluffy doesn't come home," said Mimi, a neighbor on the next block who did not want to give her last name. "It's just not right."

I've often been tempted to take someone's cat to the vet. If I had the money, I'd do it. And if they've been neglected, no, I wouldn't give them back.

and it's sad to see the cats, a lot of them scrawny and unhealthy looking, all over the streets. It was a while after I moved here before I realized they weren't all strays... they actually belonged to people. I can't believe city folks would let their cats roam outside at all. I'd feel bad if they were healthy animals and she was actually taking them out of their backyards, but if they had serious problems their owners weren't dealing with... :shrug:

Our asthmatic, pugilistic cat from hell, Daddy, was a stray when he started coming to our deck. We thought he was feral. He was afraid of humans, was filthy, starving, torn to hell, and was not neutered. We fed him and he came regularly. Over time he grew to trust me. He eventually let me scratch behind his ears. Then he let me pet his whole self.

He got so friendly that when it was time for TNR* we didn't have to trap him: he let me pick him up and put him into the carrier. Our vet cleaned him up, treated his wounds, and neutered him. When we got him home we put him back out. But I had become attached and -- I still don't know why -- Mrs. V. relented and we had our fifth house cat.

It didn't take long before we learned that Daddy suffered badly from asthma. We went to the vet for treatment, advice, and meds for that, too. It's heaven to be a cat in our house, especially if you were a stray.

A couple of months after we took him in, a young man came to our door, claiming that Daddy was his. He said his girlfriend had given Daddy to him as a kitten and that he'd been looking for him. Daddy obviously recognized him. I was catatonic with grief. I let him go. We were both heartbroken.

After a few days of crying, and Mrs. V. (whose head is clearer than mine) pointing out all we had done for this sick, neglected cat who'd obviously been fending for himself for months, I got angry. But all I could do was cry, because he was gone. Mrs. V. said "he'll be back."

He did come back, on a Sunday afternoon while Mrs. V. was talking to her folks. I vowed if that little prick ever came to the door again that I would rip him a new asshole, tell him I knew he only reclaimed Daddy because his girlfriend stupidly came around again and he wanted to get laid, demand repayment of the $2000+ we'd spent on Daddy at the vet, and kick his ass down the stairs sans cat.

You see why part of me empathizes with Angelica.

* TNR = Trap - Neuter - Return -- common procedure among those of us who care for feral cats.

After my first trip to the vet for shots & tests I knew that Abbott was officially my cat (I had just picked out his name that day).

I had already posted signs over the neighborhood about the lost cat and figured if anyone showed up now they needed to reimburse me for the vet costs (Abbott needed treatment for Fleas & mites). Even then, the wouldn't get the cat back until after I made sure he was fixed.

But no one loved Abbott enough to respond to the signs I posted everywhere. At least once a day while I cuddle with Abbott I think about what Abbott must have been like as a kitten and who the selfish bastard owners were that didn't love him enough when Abbott outgrew his kitten stage.

I think there is a special place in heaven for those of us who give our love to cats - especially homeless ones like Daddy & Abbott

:bounce: Abbott's a lucky boy.

To have such a gorgeous cat waiting for me when I come home from work. He likes to be cuddled like he's a little baby while Evita looks at us like we're nuts!

The "pet" cats in our neighborhood are often more scrawny than the rats on the streets

(I edited my subject line. Hope none took offense at the orginal. I was venting my spleen at the supposed owners of these cats, not the responders on this board. Thanks.)

I'm guessing this lady WOULD return them, if the cats had collars and tags.

If these "owners" are so worried about their cats, what are they doing letting them out to wander the streets of NYC? I guess they think it's ok if they get hit by a car. Or if they get in a catfight and get one of many stray cat diseases. Or if they get pregant and deposit yet another litter of ownerless kittens on the street. That's all fine and dandy.

But heaven forbid some stranger should take them to a vet for a checkup!

:mad:

seriously!!

I don't blame this woman one bit and these families could save ages of heartache by either keeping a collar on their cats or microchipping them so the vet can find the owners.

When I found Abbott I really did want to find his rightful owner at first. I mean, he did come with a flea collar on him. But when I took him to the vet and there was no microchip (and I paid $90 for shots & tests) I knew that Abbott would be my cat for now on.

My cats are totally indoors and only have their collars on when I know someone is coming to my house to do maintenence work (in case they get out). But I've been looking into getting them microchipped just incase they escape for some reason (they can't get out of my apartment nor do they have any desire to leave)

the orig owners have no right to them, and shd be publicly caned.

although my main gig is ferals, i've done this on occasion.

nobody has asked me to return a cat, or dog, 2ce.

that's just wrong. This woman has some mental problems.

that's still someone's property.

what somepeople call a backyard, most would call an abandoned lot or the space between buildings. And as for frontyards, that's generally the street. I once saw a cat that was "kept" in the crawlspace of a building. He was fed, but he was dirty and covered in cuts.

Sick bastard.

This woman....well, her heart's in the right place. But she oughtn't steal them.

all doctors have disected cats. So have most nurses and nutritionists

to have unspayed pets running around the streets of new york with broken bones? Who has the balls to demand his/her cat back?

there are posters calling her a thief all over the neighborhood.

We thought he was a stray because he was hanging around. I think he was hoping one of our (spayed) females would come out of the house and he'd get lucky. We started to feed him. Then we took him for a little spa treatment at the vet. He got pissed and went home.

The next three strays really were strays, though, and are still living with us.