Laws Regarding "neighborhood" Cats

[Rowan_1102]

Essentially I live in a residential area in a rural part of southern Ohio. There are a lot of "neighborhood" cats that just free roam around. I have no idea who they belong to, if they belong to anyone. I have been feeding them of a night. None of them are overly skinny, but they could be hunting mice and whatnot.

I know the importance of spaying and neutering cats. My question is, if I were to get the males neutered or bring one into my house, could someone come back on me and say I stole their cat? None of them have collars on and I haven't seen anyone else interact with them. Just want others thoughts. Will continue to feed them though!

 

[bigbadbass]

In 30 years here....I never had strays until Bug and Princess appeared (within 6 months of each other) and none since.
Both were obviously starving and each in different forms of distress. I suspect they originated from the same source, likely related somehow...and were dumped. Princess appeared here spayed, her left ear clipped. Bug was not. I have no other info or explanation of their origin, other than the fact that they bonded instantly, as if they knew each other or sensed their common lineage.

Regardless, I checked with neighbors while feeding, took a few days to confirm no owners....then took each in without hesitation. And never looked back. Both indoors, fully integrated, trusted members of my Club Med for kitties. MINE.

 

[orange&white]

Have them scanned for microchips. No collars, no chips = your cat(s).

 

[bigbadbass]

^ Makes good sense, orange&white

Our area also gets "Lost dog/cat" posters put up on telephone poles or signs....a legit attempt to check them too.

Don't want to steal an animal from an owner, but if they appear in distress or starving...take them in. Unlikely they are owned.

 

[orange&white]

Yes, posters or local online "Lost and Found" is a good idea if there is a possibility the cat is owned.

My neighborhood is full of feral cats, not "owned roamers"...they are obviously unowned by anyone, but well-fed by several.

I had one exception about two weeks ago. A beautiful cat was in my backyard off and on for a couple of days. Obviously someone's cat, because he walked right up to me after a few minutes of talking to him. I scoured the "Lost Cat" ads and didn't see anything posted (and I don't have a camera to post a "Found" ad). Anyway, I was planning to go see if he had a chip to try to reunite him, but he stopped showing up. Hopefully he found his way home and wasn't abandoned.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

R Rowan_1102 - I thought I'd add my two cents, since you mentioned you lived in a rural part of Ohio.

There still exist rescues --I think more commonly in rural areas of the country-- that use ear tattoos as identification. Sometimes when a rescue cat is adopted, the new owner may choose not to chip the cat - whether that decision to not chip is a temporary one, or permanent. However, you can still register your cat's identification tattooes with pet licensing, the vets, and other registries. Granted, people actually making sure that they register the ear tat numbers of their pets with lost-and-found services is less common than those registering their microchips. Ear tattoos are just not as common. But it wouldn't hurt to make sure any stray cats who might have been lost --or more usually abandoned, sadly-- don't have any identifying ear tattoos before you claim them as "yours".

And not having a collar on may not necessarily mean that the cat is ownerless... but that you have a skillful and wily cat who may have gotten outside and then managed to get its own collar off!

 

[maggiedemi]

Demi was indoor/outdoor for the first 7 months of his life. He's not microchipped. He had a flea collar on for a while before I switched him to Frontline, then he had nothing on. I guess I was taking a big chance. But he's indoor only now.

 

[Willowy]

There may be a lost and found pets Facebook group in your area. There's one for the town my mom lives in, and the group is very good about matching lost pets up with their owners, and they get together to take care of the ferals/strays that don't belong to anyone.