This is going to be a very hard story to write and I can guarantee you that I will cry a few times before finishing this story.
We were called to a store in Rochester to do a chip check on a cat, when we arrived we saw the cat had a brand new collar on and was quite thin but judging by his teeth and ears you could see that he was an old boy. He was not chipped, so we placed him into emergency foster care until we could find his owners.
Within the space of 24 hours we were contacted by a lovely lady that works for the cats protection to say that there was a reported missing cat matching the description and area of the cat that we had found. We spoke to the woman and had it confirmed that it was indeed her cat Bill. Bill was a 22 year old lovely boy and before he was reunited we had his nails cut and he had a full belly ready to go home.
Bill took the whole experience in his stride and was such a happy boy, I even sung to him in the car whilst he stared at me purring away. Bill was reunited that very same day and we offered a microchip to the owners, however the owner stated he will not be going out again as the whole experience had really worried her about his safety.
After a few days we recieved a phone call from Bill’s owner to explain that he had escaped on the Friday (which was only a few days after we got him home) and his owner had been pounding the streets looking for him since she realised he was missing. We also placed Bill back on our website stating he was missing.
We then recieved the most heartbreaking news and after a lot of digging and finding out the correct information we can now reveal that Bill was picked up by a member of the public on the Friday he went missing and was taken to a veterinary practice. After 3 hours of being in the care of the vet he was put to sleep. We are very upset and angry about this situation as we know it can be tough to find owners of animals without a microchip, but we do our very best to find an owner whether the animal is deceased or alive.
If Bill was microchipped this would not have happened as the vet would have had to contact the owner through checking for a chip before making any decisions on his life.
We understand that this will anger a lot of people as much as it has angered us, and we have been allowed by the owners to write about this to help other people with their animals. We are not disclosing any names involved apart from Bill. We just wish that he was given more time than 3 hours to get home safely. We cannot stress enough just how important it is to get your animal chipped. It may not be visible to you, but it is to local authorities that hold microchip scanners.
Rest In Paws Heaven Bill xxxxxxx
Not for profit animal welfare organisation.
Animals Lost and Found in Kent Ltd 
Oh how sad owners must be in bits ,but they should have taken up offer of chipping,maybe the vet thought was a stray and as being old,probably done it thinking was the kind thing to do,but should have allowed time incase owners where looking for him,like you say it’s so important for any animal to be chipped,even if got run over,having chip would give peace of mind to where cat was and get reunited ,rest in peace Bill
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3 hours.????
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Bless his heart, such a shame to have a sad ending like this.
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That’s awful, poor Bill and poor owners. I’d have been very cross indeed and upset had this happened – I had a lovely old cat called Paws who was deaf at the end of his life and often did’t hear me calling. I don’t think it would have hurt that vet to keep hold of him for a couple of days instead of just 3 hours. Poor little cat.
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r.i.p Bill microchips are so important I can understand the owners not wanting to put bill through any distress but it is so quick and can be used in a variety of ways if your cat is stolen or missing and found but appearance has changed where they have been missing so long. Please everyone microchip your pets x
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What I don’t understand is why the vets only waited 3 hours? Most people will contact local vets if a pet goes missing and that length of time is not necessarily enough for owners to know they are missing let alone contact vets etc. Yes Bill should of been chipped but hindsight is a wonderful thing. RIP poor Bill
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So sad I lost my 14 year old last summer and never found her ,the devastation of knowing that Il never see her again never leaves me I still look for her and pray she is ok ,she was chipped but it didnt help find her,bless you x
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Find it disturbing that this vet feels that elderly animals are so disposable and unimportant. Yes he may have been scraggy as many elderly pets are and yes he may have had some underlying illness but after 3hrs who are they to decide on his fate and not give him the chance of being a beloved pet
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Name and shame that murdering veterinary surgeon, I am sick and tired of these money grabbing vets murdering innocent cats and dogs, they ALL should be thoroughly ashamed of their work colleagues who do this, there is absolutely NO excuse for doing this to a healthy cat. It is why I stay well away from so called vets, using holistic medicine on my own cats.
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Three hours is not long enough to give chance for an owner to be found – I thought vets were supposed to be animal lovers? Was Bill injured or in so much pain that it would have been kinder to put him to sleep? If not, it seems that an assumption was made without thought, care or compassion and the Vet should be named, so those that do love their animals can make an informed choice of where to seek (and pay) for genuine care of their pets.
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oh no.
how sad 😦
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The vet who murdered him and the practice he was taken to should hang their heads in shame. 3 hours is never long enough to decide to kill any animal, especially one that was not terminally ill. I’m thinking I know the organisation the vets belong to as they have a reputation for killing healthy animals – they even admit it on their website. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I’m guessing a well known animal charity.
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I would really like to know which vets this is so I make sure if I find an unchipped animal that I don’t take it there!!!!!
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This is a very sad story of a 3 hr cat to live. I feel sorry for the owners to loose a family member. It takes longer than 3hrs to realise for a cat going missing? More needs to be done? Every cat should be micro chipped, the issue is not chipping but care of an animal until the cat is healthy enough to go home or re-homed. Really shocked the vets can do something like this?
R,I,P Bill
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