An injured cat with no known owner still does deserve to get medical care. We received a call from a home owner about a stray cat that was in distress and needed help. Team Chelsea volunteers attended and within a short time this cat was trapped. The cat was in need of medical attention so I contacted animal services after hours to ask if they could attend so that they could take it to the Animal Emergency Clinic for care. The Animal Services Officer called me back promptly and I explained that the cat was injured. He asked what type of medical training I had to determine that this cat needed medical care. I explained the cat is bleeding, its tail is missing and the cat is in pain and secured in our trap. The officer asked who was going to transfer the cat from our trap into his cat carrier. Due to the risk of the cat escaping during a transfer from the trap to the carrier I told him that the cat needed to stay in the trap until it got to the ER clinic. The Animal Services Officer advised me that he would attend and that he needed to get a release signed from the homeowner of the property where the cat was trapped. I provided him with the homeowners contact information and address. I asked him if our volunteers needed to wait for him at that address or if they could proceed to the ER and wait for him there. He agreed that they proceed to the ER and a short time later the Officer attended the ER clinic where our volunteers were waiting with this injured cat. Upon the Officers arrival at the ER clinic he advised that he was not able to get a signature on the release form from the owner of the property where the cat was trapped. Because he didn’t have a signature he advised that he / animal services would NOT be taking custody or responsibility of this cat. Since this cat did need medical attention I asked the Officer if he was then turning this cat over into our care and he said yes. He then left the ER clinic. I spoke with the ER clinic vet who felt that it would be best if Animal Services was involved. I agree and felt they should have as well, that is why I called them in the first place. I explained what happen and that the officer refused to take responsibility for the care of this cat. I asked the vet to contact animal services again to make another request, the ER clinic made that call but the officer refused again. As this point we still had a cat in distress that needed medical care. I am aware that this can pose legal/liability issues for any vet clinic when an animal is brought in for medical care by someone who is not the legal owner of that animal. But, what are we supposed to do in a situation such as we encountered tonight. We are not going to standby and let any animal suffer when we know that it needs care. I agreed to pay for any costs incurred to get this cat medical care and I accepted full responsibility for doing so. What we (Team Chelsea) did was accept a request from a homeowner to help a cat in distress as the homeowner could not get help from any other service. We trapped this cat legally, with permission to do so on this home owner’s property. I contacted Animal Services to advise them to attend for an injured cat. Should any animal have to suffer or go untreated due to a lack of a signature? If this injured cat was found on the side of the road a signature would not have been required for Animal services to act upon. This is not the first time something like this has happen and I am sure it won’t be the last. I have personally been involved in matters with other animals where they were injured or hit by a car and we attended and helped the animal in distress because Animal Services was not available or did not have any after hour’s services. There appeared to be much red tape and politics in trying to get this poor little cat some help tonight. Whether an animal is lost or abandoned, they all deserve to get medical care if needed. I am thankful to the vet who did help this cat tonight and for understanding the situation that we and the cat were in due to Animal services refusal to assist this cat. Clearly changes need to be made as to how situations such as this are handled. Thank you to all those who support Team Chelsea. This cat was able to get the medical care it needed through our Animal Care Fund We will try to locate an owner for this cat and continue to care for him in the interim. Thank you, Janet Team Chelsea
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:21:53 +0000
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