Woman pays for cat to be put down then finds its not hers

A finance assistant paid out more than £250 for her cat to be put down before discovering it was someone else’s pet.

Lisa Rogers, 42, of Bath, Somerset, had been told by the RSPCA that her cat Dusty had been found after he was reported missing, but was seriously ill.

She spent £252 for the moggy to be put to sleep, but the feline ‘came back from the dead’ and turned up on her doorstep a month later.

Dusty the cat belongs to Lisa Rogers from Bath, who paid for the wrong pet to be put down

The RSPCA apologised and refunded Ms Rogers, blaming a miscommunication over microchip details. The dead cat had belonged to an elderly person who had died.

Miss Rogers said: ‘Between the grief and the money, it’s outrageous.’ She added: ‘I was distraught when I was told Dusty had to be put down – I love that cat.

‘And although I was over the moon when she came back from the dead, I’d still been left to pay out to have someone else’s cat put down.’

Dusty went missing from home while he was being looked after by Miss Rogers’s mother while she was on holiday in Portugal with her fiancé Craig, 43, an engineer.

She reported her missing when she came home on September 14, and was put on a list circulated to animal charities.

Within hours the RSPCA called Miss Rogers to say a cat matching Dusty’s description had been found and the microchip matched her phone number and the cat’s name.

Apparently the name and address on the chip did not match Miss Rogers, but she claims the surgery said this was a ‘mix up’ and the cat was hers.

The vet at Bath’s RSPCA Rosemary Lodge centre then delivered the devastating news that the cat had lost her sight, could not walk and had to be put down.

Miss Rogers spent £252 for Dusty to be put to sleep, but the feline 'came back from the dead'

Miss Rogers spent £252 for Dusty to be put to sleep, but the feline ‘came back from the dead’

Miss Rogers was away from the area so sent her mother to the vet, and paid £252 for Dusty to be put to sleep. A month later, she was still waiting for the ashes when the real Dusty turned up. 

‘I came home from work and there she was on my front doorstep,’ she said. ‘I knew it was Dusty because she had a distinctive lump under her belly from where she had surgery when she was little.

Miss Rogers claims she spent weeks arguing her case before the vets refunded her

Miss Rogers claims she spent weeks arguing her case before the vets refunded her

‘And when I picked up him he had the distinctive squeaky meow I know and love. All the signs pointed to it being Dusty. 

‘And then we had the microchip checked and, sure enough, it was my cat. I was delighted he was home – but I was still landed with this bill for someone else’s cat.’

Miss Rogers claims she spent weeks arguing her case before the vets refunded her and apologised for the mix up. Dusty has since gone missing again.

An RSPCA spokesman said: ‘We are very pleased to hear that Dusty has been reunited with his owners and understand this has been an upsetting time for them.

‘We were called to help a very poorly grey cat called Dusty, which we understood matched the description and microchip of missing Dusty.

‘A member of Lisa Roger’s family visited and confirmed the cat was their missing pet and consented to them being put to sleep by a vet, to prevent further suffering.

‘We have since discovered there was a miscommunication about the microchip details and are looking into this. We have refunded the cost of treatment to Lisa Rogers and apologised for the distress caused.

‘We have made enquiries and the owner of the cat which was put to sleep had passed away previously. The welfare of this very poorly cat was the number one concern of everyone involved in this very unusual event.’



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