Ohio Rescue Group Sued After Rehoming Lost, Microchipped Cat to New Family
An Ohio rescue organization faces a lawsuit after adopting a lost microchipped cat to a new family despite failing to identify the original owner.
POLICY WIRE — Cleveland, Ohio — A nonprofit animal rescue organization is seeking a court dismissal of a civil lawsuit brought by a resident who claims the group gave her lost pet to a different household.
Gabrielle Ciofani initiated the legal action against the Euclid Beach Cat Project after discovering that her cat, O’Ryan, had been adopted out since going missing in March.
The conflict reached a head in July when Ciofani received a notification that her missing animal had been found. The caller explained that O’Ryan had been rescued, provided with medical attention, and eventually placed with a new family because an initial scan did not detect a microchip.
Ciofani recounted being told: “‘We found your cat, and we didn’t detect a microchip in him initially. We took him in. We gave him medical care. We sent him out with a new family to adopt him.’”
Despite the failed scan, Ciofani maintained that the cat was registered in the 24Petwatch national database. She argued that any veterinary scan should have triggered an alert identifying the pet as missing and belonging to her specific family.
After local police in Highland Heights informed Ciofani that the recovery of the pet was a civil matter, she filed the suit. She noted that she only identified the caller as a representative of the rescue group after speaking with law enforcement.
Ciofani expressed belief that the Euclid Beach Cat Project had initially encouraged the new owners to return the cat, but ultimately decided that the situation was no longer their responsibility.
Legal counsel for the Euclid Beach Cat Project issued a statement confirming the organization rescued the cat while it was in poor health and that no chip was found at that time. The attorney stated that the group was unaware of the microchip until after the animal had been rehomed, and declined further comment due to the active litigation.
Ciofani, who shares the pet with her eleven-year-old daughter, remains uncertain of the cat’s current location or whether he will be returned.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)