CATS PROTECTION

Hi. I'm new to the forums.

I own an 8 month old black Tom cat called Marty. He's neutered and chipped, and had his injections. 

On Saturday 11th June he didn't come back home in the evening. This is very strange for him as he isn't one for going away, and he's never been out over night. 

We were obviously worried sick so we searched for him, to no avail. Last night, June 15th we met a neighbour in the back alley who saw us looking for Marty, and he informed us that a cat fitting Marty's description had hung itself by it's collar on a fence and the body was taken away by Newcastle City Council. We live in Heaton.

This morning, June 16th, I rang Envirocall to be told that they haven't picked up any cats fitting Marty's description, but they would ring me back within a day after they've spoken to the relevant department. 

Now, after reading a story about someone else on this site who's cat has gone missing and the council have messed up in regards to dealing with it's body, I've decided to ask for advice as to what I should do next? I want to know what happened to my pet!

Like I say, Marty is chipped, neutered, and never stays out over night, so this is very unusual for him to be missing for this amount of time. Fingers crossed the dead cat isn't him.

Sorry I missed your question ...

I myself donated a scanner on behalf of the Branch to Newcastle City Council, and that scanner is based at the Byker Depot, so Im certain that had Marty been taken there, he would have been scanned.

Many cats do, once in their lifetime, go and search out their territory, and although a neutered cats territory is much smaller, ther is always the chance that someone will think it a stray and keep the cat.

It is a nightmare for owners when people make this assumption, hence when a stray is reported to us, we say, no, a cat is not a stray unless it has been seen for 14 consecutive days, and does not leave at any time during that period.

We then tell them to take it to a Vet to have it scanned for a chip, and to advertise it locally.

It would appear this is what has happened to Marty.

I do hope he has returned by now, but if he hasnt please dont fear the worst, as the majority of cats who go missing are very much alive.

Again, sorry for the delay.

Chris

Hi.

Sorry it's taken me ages to reply, but I've only just logged back in as I've now got a new cat.

After 2/3 weeks of phoning around, asking neighbours etc we eventually found out that it was Marty who had the accident. I had to speak to another neighbour to find out the whole truth. It turns out that Envirocall had totally failed to acknowledge that they picked Marty up, and he had sat in the Byker Depot for nearly 2 weeks, unscanned. Obviously people in the council and storage depot aren't doing their jobs properly. The most frustrating thing about the whole ordeal was the fact that we didn't know what had happened to Marty. If the people at these places aren't doing their jobs properly, what's the point in us pet owners paying to get our animals microchipped in the first place?

A few weeks after we lost Marty, we decided to get a new kitten as the flat felt empty. She's called Maggie and she's absolutely nuts, but very lovable at the same time. She's now ready to get neutered, which is why I'm back on here for information on your other pages.

Hi

Just read your post about Marty. Can't believe Newcastle Council have did it again. My cat Gizmo has been missing for nearly 41/2 months now and i have phoned the councils every few weeks. After reading about Marty have phoned them again. I don't trust Newcastle Council after what happened to Helen and her cat Dooby. The guy i spoke to has spoken to a manager to see if they can find out any more because they still aren't getting proper descriptions of cats that are being killed on the roads. I asked for the Byker Depot's number but he said they don't have one. I'm so annoyed, people just want closure when there pets go missing. Sharon x

I've had 3 replies to my recent flyers about my lost cat, all saying she was run over on Sunday and that the Council came and took her away. The Council are denying that they have removed any cats from my area this week at all and now they are striking tomorrow so i can't check back again. I just hate not having full closure and i can't believe that 3 separate people who all took the time to ring me are wrong.