With all due respect I really dont understand whats happened here. They stole your cat of 8 years claiming its theres and the next thing you tell us is you had to offer to not only give them your cat, but $8000 too? You mention a broken door and trespassing charge - I have to ask what exactly where you doing to end up from a situation where you could accuse them of stealing your cat - To suddenly be settling to get them off your back? Did you break into their house or property? Can you fill in the blanks please and answer exactly why you didnt go to the police to tell them they stole your cat and deal with it that way? It feels like were not reading the whole story. Sorry i dont mean to push for answers gooey but i really cant understand whats happened and how as it seems like a lot of details have been omitted?
All this over a cat? $8k for a cat? Jesus. Sure, if you'd hit them with a bat or something, $8k would be reasonable, but for a cat?
OK, I read through the other two threads, and then I read through this thread. I'm still a bit confused about a couple of details that you've only hinted at, but never really explained. You've gained a lot of sympathy because, for all intents and purposes, your neighbor stole your cat. I agree that you've put a lot of time and money into caring for the cat, and after 8 years I think any reasonable person would come to the conclusion that you are the cat's rightful owner. However, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole legal part of this incident. From what I gather, you were arrested for trespassing and causing property damage to your neighbor's house. Is this correct? If so, I can't really sympathize with you for your legal woes. Rather than address the issue with the authorities from the beginning, it seems like you tried to take matters into your own hands. As for the quips that were mentioned in the previous threads: Possession is not 9/10s of the law; and, possession is not the same thing as ownership. If you possess something that someone else owns, then it is his, not yours. If we all hold to that quip, then it's just as easy to say that the neighbors now own the cat because they possess it in there house. Were the neighbors able to establish prior ownership of the cat? Did they have a receipt of purchase or anything like that? If not, then you effectively took ownership of a wounded stray cat, as evidenced by 8 years of veterinary bills. While you may be legally responsible for the trespassing and property damage charges, there is no reason why you should have to hand over the cat, as well. It just seems that there is more to this story than simply, "Neighbor steals cat, guy gets locked up and has to pay fine." I probably should have prefaced all of this with: I am not a lawyer. My comments are free; therefore, you get what you pay for. -monkey
It was not your cat originally, you stole it for a few years, then smashed up their door when they tried to finally re-claim it? Ok......
I think it was basically a neglected cat, that he looked after for 8 years. At the end of the day, say your next door neighbour's kid is always hanging out at your place... you give him food, drink, tutoring, take him to the doctors a couple of times when he is sick and the parents are out, take him to a couple of family outings, etc, it doesn't make it your child - there's no adoption by default situation, you were basically just being an illegitimate parent/big brother/guardian angel -sort of. $8k is damn harsh imo, it would have been good if all you had to pay for was to repair the door & wall.
I might have done the same thing to thier door btw. I wouldn't be surprised if they do put him down after a couple of fits, they don't sound like the caring type. I hope you RFID tag your new cat! With this done i think you'd be safe to let him roam free and happy, no need to lock it up
+1 here for this. I agree. As mentioned by monkey - Taking the law into your own hands, no matter the situation is asking for trouble. The courts will take into account there were mitigating circumstances for your actions but never the less they will class them as your actions to a situation. Here in the UK you would probably get anger management classes and a probation order. The anger managment classes would be about your cognitive skills and decision making problems because you clearly seem to have gone from "situation > explosive decision" as your reaction shows. I agree though I would be extremely frustrated and angry and would probably be quite volatile....but thats were some of my experience comes into play to make a sound decision. I work for probation and I have seen people have criminal records for the stupidest of things, a tiny mistake in life suddenly has a criminal record hanging over you for your life. But granted without this knowledge and understanding of watching people come through the system over trivial things we could all clearly relate to - you learn to be more relaxed and think over your decisions. I guess that would have been difficult for you as it was an emotional situation with the cat being almost like a family member and I can sympathise with that. But the case remains you looking back at it you could have made a better choice, phoing the police would have been one for theft of your cat and with your vet bills etc you had a good standing of proof. goodluck however and I hope this whole experience hasnt been a big burden - It will be over and many years from now you will look back without as much bitterness I hope!
If i was the judge, that cat would be legally yours right now, and seeing how trivial the damage was you wouldn't have paid a cent. I'm guessing at least most people here think the same way, but we don't make the laws. Hopefully you don't ever have any more problems with them again ninja edit: i wonder if it's worth appealing the decision... probably might end up being a major pita and more cost though...
I think this just proves how ridiculous the US legal system can be. Get lots of money, a good lawyer and you'll be fine. Ours is faaaar from perfect, but not as corrupted and greedy. Oh and still has some morales left I think. Also I'm sorry to hear about this, people are crap but they'll get their just desserts! What goes around comes around etc..
Ah man, it's unbelievable that someone could get away with that. Or that it could cost so much. It should have been them paying you for the vet's bills [shakes head in disgust]
Sorry, but I disagree. Gooey_GUI took the law into his own hands without ever consulting the police or legal counsel. His neighbor didn't follow through on an agreement solidified by nothing more than a shake of the hand. Sorry, but this isn't an idyllic 1950s small town. In the real world, it takes more than a firm hand shake to create any kind of solid legal ground. If I've understood the chain of events correctly, then Gooey_GUI trusted his neighbors on a hand shake, even though he knew full well that they hadn't really cared about the cat for the last 8 years. In the end, I think this should end up as a hard lesson that some people just suck. Next time you might think before losing your temper. Have a bite to eat and wait an hour before going over. -monkey
I was never charged for trespassing or breaking anything. It was a very convoluted occurrence which took them to gain upon themselves while the obscurity of what occurred could be implied against me when there was never much truth available about what actually happened. I simply wanted to be done with the problem and paid fees, attorney, and them that total amount. I was by myself with no witness for me. As I left, I saw how quickly they started to gather support from a neighbor who was not even there at all. It is not very good to find a troublesome situation propelled all out of proportion to the extent to bring pressure for the motives of others. Fabrication can always occur. I was never found guilty of the law and all ended with everything that I will not explain any further as it still troubles me when so many others read into a situation that they couldn't understand or see in the first place.
Wrong. A verbal agreement IS binding by law. Proving that the agreement ever took place is hard without a contract, but once both parties acknowledge the agreement, it is binding. I'm not a lwayer, but i know that much. Having said that, i'm getting the sense that either your lawyer sucks, or we are still missing the gravity of your outbursts, no matter how understandable they have been. If it boils down to one case of trespassing and property damage, it should have really been two separate cases, you and the cat. Your lawyer allowed both to be tried in the same case, i.e. he sucks Either that, or your actions boil down to a point where your neighbours actually felt threatened, which would not make you a very good caretaker for the cat in a judges eyes. But i'm no judge, and i shouldn't actually be saying these things about something i know so little about. I really do sympathise with you Gooey, the law and neighbours are not opponents i'd wish on anyone in a case about something you care for. I'm glad that at least you found some rest in the fact that it's all settled and done. Good luck to you!
I'm pretty sure that it isn't! Another way of saying what i meant is that allthough i fully sympathize and think Gooey deserves ownership, which i assume most people will agree, unfortunately the law doesn't agree in this scenario.
so we can take three things from this 1. a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on 2. get all pets id chipped at the same time as getting them vaccinated 3. never escalate a physical situation when you'd have a much better response walking away and keeping the law on your side
