A little advice about a situation...

[Killer Kitten]

After a really busy day, there was a brief lull in business. My partner and I decided to take advantage of it and leukemia/aids test our latest group of kittens. I stayed in the back of the shop and ran the blood, she fetched the kittens we needed then put them back in their room. The front was unattended but we have a bell on the door and it lets us know when somebody is coming into the shop.

Awhile later I was doing med rounds and went to medicate Pookie, my foster kitten. He was being housed in a crate in the shop instead of the medical area because all the kittens in medical are passing around the latest upper respiratory virus and he just has the splats a bit.

I opened his cage and he didn't come bouncing to meet me. His cage was unoccupied. I didn't panic, just figured Maria had moved him for some reason, until she said she hadn't moved him. His cage had been locked and there was no way he could have gotten out. Then we noticed that the Siamese kitten in the cage right below his was also missing, though the Siamese's gray tabby sister was still in the cage and the cage was locked.

Some asshole snuck into our shop while we were busy and stole David (Siamese) and Pookie (my kitten, who happens to be long haired and illegally cute). They ignored the other three kittens in the area, a gray tabby and two black and whites. They also ignored our fundraiser jar which was about half full of money, both of our laptops which were plugged in and just sitting on the desk, and the cash register which contained a decent amount of cash.

I'm praying that they grabbed Pookie and David because they were cute and exotic, and not for snake or put bull bait. My biggest worry is that Pookie has the shits and they didn't steal his medication. He's going to crap on their floor and I worry they'll hurt him or just toss him out into the street. I also worry because he's just started eating solid food and still needs his bottle.

I want to put a big sign on our door offering a reward - no questions asked - for the safe return of our kittens. We called the police, they took a report but said that even if they saw somebody with the kittens they couldn't prove they were our kittens.

I'm just devestated. I raised Pookie from an egg and only took him to work today for a weigh-in and poop check. Because I had to pick today he is possibly dead right now, and he has slept in our bed every night of his life. How could somebody do such a shit thing?

So my question is: What else can I do to get them back besides the reward thing? Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,
Kimm

[Praefection]

Call the local tv/radio stations? If nothing else it might generate some good publicity for what you're trying to do.

Oh, that is really shitty thing for someone to do too. I feel for you and hope the little guys are okay. :(

[LMingrone]

If someone ever stole my cat I would kill them. And I'm not kidding. My father has/is suing me to get Joe. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. He's become my best friend in the last year.

I'm very sorry for you. Hopefully he shits all over their place and finds his way home to you.

Here's my Joe and Lilly. I had to bury Lilly a little while ago. :(

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5961/christmas2006132.jpg

Damnit, you made me go through my old pet pictures. I'm crying now. RIP Neco (Doberman), Brock (Rottwieler), Jake (Pitbull), Peachtree (Parrot) , Ozzy (Finch), and all my lizards and fish. And I miss my 100+ ducks so bad. I have nothing to do with all my bread now.

Fuck, I'm honestly crying right now.

[The Ponzzz]

I would be crushed! Call a local news station and tell them the story. As long as you aren't in a huge city, they would eat up the story as a break in/kitten stealer. Offer a reward and have them broadcast it on the 5 o clock news. Do the same on a local radio station. Put the flyers up too.

Though, chances are, if someone snuck into the place, knew where the cats were and took certain ones, sounds like a somewhat inside job. Maybe not an employee (assuming there are more), but someone who has been there before. Just sounds like they knew not to disturb the door for the bell and had it planned out.

[Methais]

Find them.

Kill them.

Kill them again.

[Asha]

Find them.

Kill them.

Kill them again.

This.
If you don't find the perps, kill anyone.

[Geshron]

This gives me far less chance for my already-dwindling hope in humanity. Hope you get your kitties back, what bullshit.

[Rimalon]

Totally agree about calling up the local news stations.

We recently ran a story about some chick who lost her wedding ring at a gym after she took it off for tanning... and wouldn't you know, someone had found it, watched the news that night, and returned that shizz.

[Killer Kitten]

Thanks for the advice, I'll send out a press release this morning. I kept waking up and not finding that little ball of fluff on my pillow. It's hard enough to give up foster kittens to get adopted out, this is just killing me.

[Gan]

If someone ever stole my cat I would kill them. And I'm not kidding. My father has/is suing me to get Joe. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. He's become my best friend in the last year.

I'm very sorry for you. Hopefully he shits all over their place and finds his way home to you.

Here's my Joe and Lilly. I had to bury Lilly a little while ago. :(

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5961/christmas2006132.jpg

Damnit, you made me go through my old pet pictures. I'm crying now. RIP Neco (Doberman), Brock (Rottwieler), Jake (Pitbull), Peachtree (Parrot) , Ozzy (Finch), and all my lizards and fish. And I miss my 100+ ducks so bad. I have nothing to do with all my bread now.

Fuck, I'm honestly crying right now.

Your father is suing you for the custody of a cat?

Seriously?

[Warriorbird]

You can be sued for dumber things by family.

[AnticorRifling]

It sucks to be lose a pet, especially like that. I hate to say this but I would probably just cut your losses and move on. Chances of getting the pet back are slim to none, make peace let it go.

[Stanley Burrell]

I'm not sure about the infrastructure of your shop and the surrounding area, but are there any security cameras nearby?

That's all I can think of, this is a strange world.

[Jayvn]

It really sucks that people do shitty stuff like that.. I would violently beat the shit out of the person if you ever did find out who it was. also.. I didn't know cats could get aids... does it affect them the way it affects people?

[Mikalmas]

I didn't know cats could get aids... does it affect them the way it affects people?

There's two retroviruses that are (somewhat) common in cats. Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). Ironically, FeLV is much more contagious and has a much higher mortality rate than FIV. The name is very deceiving. Its called "Feline Leukemia" but it is in fact a retrovirus that supresses the immune system (just as HIV does in humans). The prognosis for FeLV+ cats is very poor. Most (I don't remember eactly, 80-90%) die within 3 years of diagnosis.

FIV, on the other hand, is serious but much less virulent than FeLV. FIV is transmissible only by deep bite wounds, whereas FeLV is passed through blood, saliva, and feces/urine. Cats with FIV can live pretty normal, long lives, and the chances of infecting other cats is minimal (meaning you can probably have FIV+ and - cats live together as long as the FIV+ cat isn't a biter). FeLV, on the other hand, requires isolation from negative cats.

[diethx]

What a nauseating situation. :(

Why don't you have security cameras watching the door/front area at least, though? I hope you get one for the future.

[Killer Kitten]

We're getting a camera and an electronic door alert buzzer put in this week. The guy two shops up is going to donate them to us.

We're not a huge moneymaking enterprise and what money we bring in has always gone for food, vaccinations, vet bills, rent, utilities... all direct cat-related expenses. We always figured that if we got a theft, it would be for medical supplies (we don't have any 'good' drugs but we have tons of syringes) or our laptops or somebody dashing in and snatching a donation jar. Who'd have thunk that somebody would steal kittens when every other driveway around here has a 'free kittuns' sign posted every spring?

We had the local news station here last night and they did a story and we've leafleted most of the town with our poster. I'm hoping that the no questions asked reward will prove more interesting to the thief than a kitten with the shits.

And I'm sorry about Lilly, she looks like she was a very pretty kitty.

[Apotheosis]

http://doubledeckerbuses.org/blog/media/blogs/new/God-kills-kitten.jpg



sorry to hear about your loss, though.

[Killer Kitten]

Well, miracles do happen. We managed to get a lot of TV and newspaper coverage (Yay for slow news days and small towns!) and put out word of a reward.

Saturday afternoon a guy comes into the shop with our two kittens in a pillowcase. They were ravenous but otherwise ok.

His story was that his bi-polar and drunk girlfriend had taken them because she thought they were 'cute'. He was bringing them back because it was all over the news and he was afraid the cops would show up at his house.

Because he 'felt bad' about it he said he only wanted half of the reward money, and was only taking that because he was 'really broke'. He spent the afternoon at the bar across the street drinking it up with the bi-polar drunken girlfriend.

We sent a cute volunteer over to get his picture for our website as 'the hero'. Then we gave the pic to the guy in the store next to ours, who had been taken off for $300 worth of jewelry the same night.

The guy missing the jewelry is also reputed to be the biggest dope dealer in the area. I've heard that dope dealers don't take well to being ripped off. Pity if something happened to that nice young couple...

At any rate, the kittens are back safe and sound. David is happily reunited with his sister at the shop, Pookie is bopping around my house driving my cats bugshit.

[Jayvn]

You should have slashed their tires while they were drinking..

[Tea & Strumpets]

Because he 'felt bad' about it he said he only wanted half of the reward money,


LOL. I don't know what's crazier, that he expected any reward, or that you gave it to him.

[War Angel]

At any rate, the kittens are back safe and sound.

Congrats! Nice to hear that things ended happily. :)
I would've had em both arrested, anyways. Her for the theft, and him for concealing it.
My pets are like family, and I would've probably hurt someone.

[The Ponzzz]

Awesome. I'm really happy to read that our PC advise helped.

[Killer Kitten]

When we posted the reward in the first place we knew that we'd probably end up giving it to the thief. We decided to follow through because we're not liars or thieves ourselves. We'd offered a reward with no questions and we kept our word. None of us liked it, but I think it was the right thing to do. Even if I only wanted to reward the jerk by letting my partner use her baseball bat on him. At least the babies are safe, and credit for that goes to the PC folks, who urged us to contact local media. Thanks!!!

[Praefection]

Yay! I'm glad you got the babies back. Now we need pics. :)

[Tea & Strumpets]

When we posted the reward in the first place we knew that we'd probably end up giving it to the thief. We decided to follow through because we're not liars or thieves ourselves. We'd offered a reward with no questions and we kept our word. None of us liked it, but I think it was the right thing to do. Even if I only wanted to reward the jerk by letting my partner use her baseball bat on him. At least the babies are safe, and credit for that goes to the PC folks, who urged us to contact local media. Thanks!!!

I know what you mean, I'm just boggled that the guy walked in and said "I'm bringing these back because my girlfriend stole them (by the way, she's mental), and when I saw the news story I was afraid the cops would find out. To show I'm a good guy, I'll only take half the reward."

[Stanley Burrell]

Having lived in NYC like yourself KK, I've heard some fairly tall tales from interesting citizens. If, by some twist of the imagination, it was really his psycho bitch, then, uhm, maybe you can hang onto some faint glimmer of hope that you didn't give money to the fucking fool who probably stole the kittens.

Hope there aren't any more catburglaries. Glad you got reunited :)

[Lumi]

This is the happiest thing I've heard in a long time. Congratulations, KK.

[diethx]

Congrats! Nice to hear that things ended happily. :)
I would've had em both arrested, anyways. Her for the theft, and him for concealing it.
My pets are like family, and I would've probably hurt someone.

:yeahthat:

Hooray!!!!

[Rimalon]

Yes! Local news comes through!

Hooray, beer!

[AnticorRifling]

I am a firm believer that karma will take care of things like this in the end. Glad you got your cats back, he'll get hit by a bus.