To Whom Does This Pet Belong? What Would YOU Do?????TOUGH ETHICAL ?

******Let me being by saying, this story is based, loosely, on a real event. ******

I will use myself as an example: say, I am geting my mail one day, and I find a kitten. (Actually the kitten found me & made a mad-dash for me). Half grown, cold & wet, but very sweet, clean of fleas, and friendly, glad to have made a friend. And a little too skinny. Now, since I have two big-boys, (cats), I cannot keep this one here. So, I give her to my daughter & her husband.

My daughter (and her husband) fall deeply in love with the cat, and that night, buy cat supplies, toys, and litter box. The cat climbs into bed with them, and purrs so loud, she keeps them awake, in addition, to waking them during the night, by butting them with her head.

The very next day-my daughter takes the cat to the vet. Aside from being too thin, she is free of worms & fleas-my daughter pays for a rabies shot.We are told the cat is 6 months old.

My daughter has the cat for a month, 5 weeks. The cat adores the whole family, including my 8 month old grandson, who kinda "pets da kitty till he FEELS it", if you get my drift, but the cat doesn't care. (It is the daughter without the baby, who had the cat).

One day-we see a sign, about a missing cat. I call & the woman says it sounds like her cat. I have to make the heartbreaking call to my daughter. My daughter calls the woman & agrees to bring the cat, for the woman to see. It is the womans cat. The cat is 6 months old, they had only owned the cat, for 2 weeks, before I found her. The woman was rude, and said the only reason sh put up the signs was to "keep her kids quiet". She "didn't think anyone would actually find her". And took her away, but not before asking my daughter for all the toys, the carrier & the new shot record. She, of course, offered my daughter no money for the shots, items bought for the cat, or even a reward. My daughter was broken hearted over the cat leaving.

One month has passed. Yesterday, a soaking wet cat shows up on my front step. I found her when I came home from the grocery store. Poor Baby! It was the SAME cat....and she had come looking for my home. She had to have run away, because she lives in another area. She had lost so much weight, and when she saw me, she cried.

I called my daughter (remember, she & her husband do not live with me), and my daughter went wild. She feels this woman has twice treated the cat like a disposible item. My daughter believes the cat is her's. She loved it, she got it's shots, she cared for it. Twice this lady turned the animal lose (half-grown) to fend for it's self.....I mean, it had been gone for a month, before she even looked for it!

QUESTION:

IF I actually find the cat again (assuming this is a true story-and I've already told you, it is loosely based on one)....WHO IS THE TRUE OWNER OF THE CAT????

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