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09-25-2010, 11:16 PM
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Animal Lover
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 3
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Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
Hi, I am an Australian living in Penang. We are here for six months, already nearly half gone. There is a cat in our street which we really love, it comes and sits with us every day in our house and we are feeding it. It does (or did) seem to have an owner across the street but they don't take care of it very well at all. Should I be a judgemental person? Perhaps not because they don't have much money, but the cat was very badly infected in the eye and they did nothing, so we spent the money on antibiotics. Now the cat is better and we love it, I am tempted to bring him home with me to Australia. This is not a small thing - will cost me three thousand over Australian dollars so I need to be sure to make my decision.
The people across the road who I think own this cat are not very sociable and actually quite weird and a little bit scary - unlike nearly everyone else I have met in Malaysia. Now it also looks like they might have moved away. This is my first question: would people do that in Penang, just move out and leave a cat behind with nobody to care for it? Does that happen often?
I am just not sure what to do, if I take the cat to Australia I have to spend a great deal at the vets getting vaccinations etc., and I don't want to start that whole process only to have the person come back and take the cat. Please help with advice about what is the usual cat ownership situation in Penang?
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09-26-2010, 11:05 AM
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~feline attaché
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Georgetown, Penang Island~
Posts: 1,612
Rep Power: 16
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Re: Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
There's a few types of cat lovers or pets owner. For your case, I do not think the cat get proper attention accept for table scrap that the cat get to eat each time. Some people still claim it is their..as tho they take care of the cat.
And yerp, here in Malaysia, if they are not serious in taking care of the pets .. they might move away living the pets behind. Even some of them who go for holidays will just leave without thinking of who will be feeding those pets of theirs.That's what I get during the main festivals in Malaysia, extra cats to feed. Nevertheless in your case, I do not think they'll miss the cat or whatsoever. They might just assume the cat has died or go away.
__________________
Curiosity killed the cat, but where human beings are concerned, the only thing a healthy curiosity can kill is ignorance.~Harry Lorayne
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09-26-2010, 11:55 AM
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Petfinder Moderator
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Posts: 844
Rep Power: 16
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Re: Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
Hi, Ang Moh --
There was another forum member a while back who posed a similar question. A cat came to her house, badly neglected and in need of medical care. When she'd gotten the cat back into good shape, the owners very rudely appeared and demanded the cat back.
At that time, most of us (myself included) suggested to her that if the cat should come to her house again, she should just quietly re-home to a good, caring home and then feign ignorance if the original owners should reappear.
You mentioned that the owners are "quite weird" and now appear to be gone. I suppose they could come back and be unpleasant just for the sake of being unpleasant (not because they really care about the cat.) And yes, if they never cared properly for the cat, they most likely did just move away and leave it behind.
As for the law, Malaysia has famously few laws regarding pets. The police probably wouldn't intervene if you barbecued the cat, let alone whether you care for it and take it back to Australia with you. I don't foresee you being arrested and tried for cat theft.
Can you keep the cat inside your house during the vaccination period before you return to Australia? That would eliminate the possibility of the previous and neglectful owners repossessing the cat and would be best for the cat's health and safety at any rate.
Good luck with your decision. Keep us posted? :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ang Moh 1
Hi, I am an Australian living in Penang. We are here for six months, already nearly half gone. There is a cat in our street which we really love, it comes and sits with us every day in our house and we are feeding it. It does (or did) seem to have an owner across the street but they don't take care of it very well at all. Should I be a judgemental person? Perhaps not because they don't have much money, but the cat was very badly infected in the eye and they did nothing, so we spent the money on antibiotics. Now the cat is better and we love it, I am tempted to bring him home with me to Australia. This is not a small thing - will cost me three thousand over Australian dollars so I need to be sure to make my decision.
The people across the road who I think own this cat are not very sociable and actually quite weird and a little bit scary - unlike nearly everyone else I have met in Malaysia. Now it also looks like they might have moved away. This is my first question: would people do that in Penang, just move out and leave a cat behind with nobody to care for it? Does that happen often?
I am just not sure what to do, if I take the cat to Australia I have to spend a great deal at the vets getting vaccinations etc., and I don't want to start that whole process only to have the person come back and take the cat. Please help with advice about what is the usual cat ownership situation in Penang?
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09-26-2010, 02:47 PM
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Animal Lover
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 10
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Re: Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
Totally support whatever Maneki said. The Cat has obviously rotten owners and so you'renot doing anything wrong by takign it away from its suffering.
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09-27-2010, 10:12 PM
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Animal Lover
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 3
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Re: Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
Thank you fur-loving friends. I really need this sort of information to give me context. In Australia, it would not be acceptable to 'steal' somebody's cat, no matter what you thought of their owner. Here, perhaps it's a matter of how much the owner neglects their 'pet'.
I am still clueless about what's happening with this cat's supposed owners. They came back for a night which made me think perhaps they had balik kampung for Raya and returned, but now they seem to be gone again. When they did come home the poor little cat went running over there so clearly he 'loves' them, and perhaps it's not up to me to be so judgemental, but now they have been AWOL for 36 hours and the cat hasn't been fed as far as they know (of course, we have fed him) so I get very confused about right and wrong and the ethics of this situation.
I am also worried, as someone suggested, that I might pay out a lot of money to get this puss spayed and vaccinated and then the owners come and claim him back. I can't just lock him in the house to hide him because it's an old shophouse so it's not soundproof and he has a loud miaow thus anyone could hear him inside from several houses away!
I think I'll wait another week and see what is happening across the road. I thank everyone for their advice so far and will certainly keep you all in touch with what occurs.
At the moment Mr Miaow is sitting on the back of my head on the couch. How can I not love him.....
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09-29-2010, 04:15 PM
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PetFinder Guru
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 400
Rep Power: 15
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Re: Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
keep us posted... and upload Mr Miaow's pics ya..
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11-17-2010, 07:57 AM
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Animal Lover
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: currently staying in kuantan
Posts: 21
Rep Power: 0
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Re: Please explain, I want to help but not steal this cat
hi am also staying in penang,guess that cat was really meant for you.it happen same thing to me i found a cat along our apartment and since i fed her she never leave me.nobody bothers to look for her.well sad,since on my side cant bring along with me cause im always travelling,now really having a hard time looking for someone to adopt.Cause i cant simply leave her or abandoned her.so do what is best for the cat cause they deserve love.god bless
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