Jill Franks' Bulldog Stolen/Lost

[Vienna]

It`s the not knowing which is the worse bit. If she knew for certain that he was dead then she could grieve and eventually move on but she must be wondering if he`s been kidnapped, if he`s being ill treated, if he`s been sold etc etc.
We had our cat go missing many years ago, she was a lovely cat and we trawled the streets for her and advertised her going missing. We never did find out what happened to her and to this day I still wonder about her. If I`d known she`d been killed then as upsetting as that would have been at the time, it would have given me closure. I suspect Jill wants closure one way or another.

 

[srhgts]

It`s the not knowing which is the worse bit. If she knew for certain that he was dead then she could grieve and eventually move on but she must be wondering if he`s been kidnapped, if he`s being ill treated, if he`s been sold etc etc.
We had our cat go missing many years ago, she was a lovely cat and we trawled the streets for her and advertised her going missing. We never did find out what happened to her and to this day I still wonder about her. If I`d known she`d been killed then as upsetting as that would have been at the time, it would have given me closure. I suspect Jill wants closure one way or another.

How awful for you, that's terribly sad.
One of my cats went missing for just a couple of days and that was torturous, I can't imagine how horrid it would be to never find your pet again.

 

[sharonk]

It`s the not knowing which is the worse bit. If she knew for certain that he was dead then she could grieve and eventually move on but she must be wondering if he`s been kidnapped, if he`s being ill treated, if he`s been sold etc etc.
We had our cat go missing many years ago, she was a lovely cat and we trawled the streets for her and advertised her going missing. We never did find out what happened to her and to this day I still wonder about her. If I`d known she`d been killed then as upsetting as that would have been at the time, it would have given me closure. I suspect Jill wants closure one way or another.

Over twenty years ago my boyfriend hit a cat when he was driving me home. We had no chance of missing it, two cats ran across the road at full pelt, one made it the other didn't. I was out of the car at with the cat before the car stopped. It was killed outright but I picked it up and ran to the nearest houses with it and banged on doors. The cat had no collar but had recently been spayed and still had its bald patch. I was absolutely distraught and despite knocking on numerous doors, not one person answered. I got back in the car cuddling that cat sobbing my heart out. My dad buried it in our garden and the following day I rang the local paper to put an add in the lost and founds, I will never forget the woman on the phone taking the notice started laughing and asked what the point was of me putting a notice in the paper. I told her, if it had been my cat I would find it very difficult not knowing what had happened to it. I put in the ad that it had unfortunatley been run over and died instantly, taken to my home and buried in my garden. It didn't make me feel any better but hopefully although very sad, the notice was seen by the cats family and they could grieve.

 

[srhgts]

Over twenty years ago my boyfriend hit a cat when he was driving me home. We had no chance of missing it, two cats ran across the road at full pelt, one made it the other didn't. I was out of the car at with the cat before the car stopped. It was killed outright but I picked it up and ran to the nearest houses with it and banged on doors. The cat had no collar but had recently been spayed and still had its bald patch. I was absolutely distraught and despite knocking on numerous doors, not one person answered. I got back in the car cuddling that cat sobbing my heart out. My dad buried it in our garden and the following day I rang the local paper to put an add in the lost and founds, I will never forget the woman on the phone taking the notice started laughing and asked what the point was of me putting a notice in the paper. I told her, if it had been my cat I would find it very difficult not knowing what had happened to it. I put in the ad that it had unfortunatley been run over and died instantly, taken to my home and buried in my garden. It didn't make me feel any better but hopefully although very sad, the notice was seen by the cats family and they could grieve.

What a horrible, awful woman! How could anyone find that funny?!
That must have been a dreadful experience for you and your boyfriend.

I had a fairly similar experience a few months ago. Just to warn anyone who wants to avoid such things this could be an upsetting read and is a bit graphic.


It wasn't our car that hit the cat, we didn't see what happened at all but it seemed like it must have been hit by a car. I was in the car with my fiance and my mum going down a main road, and we saw this cat lying in the middle of the road convulsing horribly. We didn't know what was wrong initially and thought maybe it was having a fit or something. We stopped and got out and so did some people in another car. It seemed to be trying to get out of the road but was twitching so much and couldn't move properly, so my fiance Tom lifted it and carried it to the pavement. We now think it actually died right then in his arms, but at the time we thought it was still alive. The people in the other car said they were in a rush to get somewhere, they'd stopped because no one else had but since we were there did we mind dealing with it, we said sure no bother, so they left.
We tried calling every vet we could feasibly get to/find a number for, a local animal hospital, anything we could think of, but because it was Sunday late afternoon there was no answer anywhere. We tried knocking on the (only a couple of) houses in the street to see if we could find the owner, but no one was in. It became clear the cat had died, and it started bleeding from its mouth. It was a beautiful cat, clearly still very young, maybe a year or two old. It was heartbreaking to see. We called the RSPCA and they didn't want to know because it had died, they said there was nothing they could do and to just leave it there. The cat didn't have a collar on so obviously there was no phone number or anything.
By this time various people had wandered past and stared at the cat, clearly clocked it was dead or at least in a very bad way. No one stopped or said anything but they kept staring anyway. I felt… sort of protective of it, I didn't like people looking at it like that, it seemed really undignified. I didn't want to leave it there, I felt like it should have peace and privacy. If it were my cat I wouldn't want someone to just leave it there. And of course we had to persist in trying to find its owner to let them know what had happened, we couldn't just leave it there. What if the owner did live in that street and drove home to find it like that? What if they never found out what happened to it? So basically we couldn't get hold of anyone who could help and didn't know what else to do, so we got a cardboard box out of the boot and Tom lifted the cat into it, and we took it home. As he lifted it blood poured from its nose and mouth, it was horrid. We put it in our garage overnight. It was a bit weird and horrible to think of this poor recently dead stranger's cat going cold in our garage, but what else could we have done with it?
First thing the next morning we got an appointment with the local vets, who were very kind and sympathetic and told us to bring it in. We dropped it off in the box with a blanket covering it, and they told us they'd let us know if/when they found the owner. We hadn't heard back by the next day so my mum called them and they said the cat was microchipped so they had found the owner, who'd said to thank us for taking it home and getting it to the vet.
We were all very upset for weeks afterwards. Obviously it'll have been a lot worse for the owners, of course it would, but we were quite shaken up. I kept seeing the cat (in my mind) just lying there on the ground, with its lovely big green eyes wide open but no longer seeing. I couldn't get the image out of my head, I kept having… flashbacks, I guess. I started to see the scene in my head but with my cats there instead. Obviously with time that's gone away and I think about it a lot less, but it was really traumatic for all of us. And the poor cat, no doubt. It looked like the loveliest little thing… I really hope it wasn't in pain but who knows. Life is so cruel sometimes.

 

[Weathergirl]

A tale of hope amongst the misery.
A friend of mine-cat lover-used to have 3 cats living with her family. Will have been 14/15 years ago now. One of them, "Tigger" was her favourite. Tigger went missing suddenly, presumed dead. Signs up round the area. Lots of upset. About 8 or 9 years passed. Friend was walking in park. A cat, who she immediately recognised as Tigger, same markings, came up to her and immediately allowed patting cuddling and being picked up. This cat had avoided other people in the park. Cat spent what seemed like ages in my friends company, special time, before walking off. My friend said she knew it was Tigger without a shadow of a doubt. She thinks Tigger re homed itself probably because of the other cats. She said you "know" your cat when you see it, even after 8 years missing. I would know mine, thinking about it.

 

[Anna]

What a horrible, awful woman! How could anyone find that funny?!
That must have been a dreadful experience for you and your boyfriend.

I had a fairly similar experience a few months ago. Just to warn anyone who wants to avoid such things this could be an upsetting read and is a bit graphic.


It wasn't our car that hit the cat, we didn't see what happened at all but it seemed like it must have been hit by a car. I was in the car with my fiance and my mum going down a main road, and we saw this cat lying in the middle of the road convulsing horribly. We didn't know what was wrong initially and thought maybe it was having a fit or something. We stopped and got out and so did some people in another car. It seemed to be trying to get out of the road but was twitching so much and couldn't move properly, so my fiance Tom lifted it and carried it to the pavement. We now think it actually died right then in his arms, but at the time we thought it was still alive. The people in the other car said they were in a rush to get somewhere, they'd stopped because no one else had but since we were there did we mind dealing with it, we said sure no bother, so they left.
We tried calling every vet we could feasibly get to/find a number for, a local animal hospital, anything we could think of, but because it was Sunday late afternoon there was no answer anywhere. We tried knocking on the (only a couple of) houses in the street to see if we could find the owner, but no one was in. It became clear the cat had died, and it started bleeding from its mouth. It was a beautiful cat, clearly still very young, maybe a year or two old. It was heartbreaking to see. We called the RSPCA and they didn't want to know because it had died, they said there was nothing they could do and to just leave it there. The cat didn't have a collar on so obviously there was no phone number or anything.
By this time various people had wandered past and stared at the cat, clearly clocked it was dead or at least in a very bad way. No one stopped or said anything but they kept staring anyway. I felt… sort of protective of it, I didn't like people looking at it like that, it seemed really undignified. I didn't want to leave it there, I felt like it should have peace and privacy. If it were my cat I wouldn't want someone to just leave it there. And of course we had to persist in trying to find its owner to let them know what had happened, we couldn't just leave it there. What if the owner did live in that street and drove home to find it like that? What if they never found out what happened to it? So basically we couldn't get hold of anyone who could help and didn't know what else to do, so we got a cardboard box out of the boot and Tom lifted the cat into it, and we took it home. As he lifted it blood poured from its nose and mouth, it was horrid. We put it in our garage overnight. It was a bit weird and horrible to think of this poor recently dead stranger's cat going cold in our garage, but what else could we have done with it?
First thing the next morning we got an appointment with the local vets, who were very kind and sympathetic and told us to bring it in. We dropped it off in the box with a blanket covering it, and they told us they'd let us know if/when they found the owner. We hadn't heard back by the next day so my mum called them and they said the cat was microchipped so they had found the owner, who'd said to thank us for taking it home and getting it to the vet.
We were all very upset for weeks afterwards. Obviously it'll have been a lot worse for the owners, of course it would, but we were quite shaken up. I kept seeing the cat (in my mind) just lying there on the ground, with its lovely big green eyes wide open but no longer seeing. I couldn't get the image out of my head, I kept having… flashbacks, I guess. I started to see the scene in my head but with my cats there instead. Obviously with time that's gone away and I think about it a lot less, but it was really traumatic for all of us. And the poor cat, no doubt. It looked like the loveliest little thing… I really hope it wasn't in pain but who knows. Life is so cruel sometimes.

That was a lovely kind thing that you and your fiance did. I am glad that the owners of the cat knew what had happened, and that someone had taken the time to do what they could for their cat.

 

[warwa100]

Rainbow Bridge poem. The loss of a beloved pet is gut wrenching. Those that understand, do. Those that don't, don't.

My pet rabbit, Bryan, died very suddenly in June last year (4 days before his 3rd birthday) and a friend sent me a prom similar which although made me cry, was lovely. I still really miss Bryan and I think about him alot. I don't have children but he was like my little boy.

 

[warwa100]

When I lived at home with my parents we had cat called Ali that had belonged to my sister when he was in a previous relationship. One day Ali went missing and we looked for her for weeks with no luck. One day almost a year later an old lady from a house on the next road knocked on our door & said she thought Ali was in her garden. I was the only one in at the time, so I went over. It was Ali but unfortunately she was stuck in the hedges. Long story short, Ali had to undergo
alot of trips to the vets & operations because she had a huge absess under one arm. But when she got over that she lived until she was almost 18 and she only died last year.

 

[Akimbo]

My pet rabbit, Bryan, died very suddenly in June last year (4 days before his 3rd birthday) and a friend sent me a prom similar which although made me cry, was lovely. I still really miss Bryan and I think about him alot. I don't have children but he was like my little boy.

Sending bunny-mumma hugs to you from a serial rabbit owner. Bryan is a fab name, mine is called Nigel! People under-estimate rabbits, they're not beginner pets but are complex little critters with brains roughly the same size as a cat's (just wired differently). My dear neighbour has had to phone me on holiday twice over many years as one of my rabbts has passed away whilst we've been on holiday (her family tease her mercilessly about it) but it's genuinely heart-breaking losing any family member, furry or not.

 

[Autumn]

Our Cat went missing just 4 months after we got her , shes an all ginger female which are hard to find , made posters , stayed off work for several days searching for her, nobody had seen her , After 10 days I had given up hope on her return , I assumed as she was only a kitten someone had taken her , and im my head i just hoped she had been given a good home and not been injured or killed , Day 11 came I was getting ready for work , opened the door and she just strolled in and went straight to her bowl, couldn't believe it , she wasn't injured or anything so have no idea where she had been for over 10 days. Now shes 3 years old and very nosey , she regularly visits the neighbours houses but thankfully always comes back home.

 

[Julius]

I was in Churchill Square in Brighton yesterday and they had a stand there for "Cats Protection" (sic). I wondered why cats needed protection? Protection from what?! I understand that the RSPCA protects animals against cruelty. So why have a special one for cats? Apparently there's another one - the NCDL for dogs.
I don't approve of cruelty to animals but I do find it strange that with all the human suffering in the world that human causes are not prioritised a little more highly. I don't want cats to suffer, but if it came down to it, I couldn't care if they all vanished tomorrow! Dogs too! Humans matter more unless they are: 1) Prisoners convicted of certain crimes 2) Chavs / benefit scroungers 3) Corrupt MPs 4) Lying celebrity types (Like Lulu) or greedy people that inflict misery (Dennis Basso).

 

[Autumn]

I was in Churchill Square in Brighton yesterday and they had a stand there for "Cats Protection" (sic). I wondered why cats needed protection? Protection from what?! I understand that the RSPCA protects animals against cruelty. So why have a special one for cats? Apparently there's another one - the NCDL for dogs.
I don't approve of cruelty to animals but I do find it strange that with all the human suffering in the world that human causes are not prioritised a little more highly. I don't want cats to suffer, but if it came down to it, I couldn't care if they all vanished tomorrow! Dogs too! Humans matter more unless they are: 1) Prisoners convicted of certain crimes 2) Chavs / benefit scroungers 3) Corrupt MPs 4) Lying celebrity types (Like Lulu) or greedy people that inflict misery (Dennis Basso).

I don't want suffering for any humans or animals , however there are hundreds of human charities out there and a lot less animals ones, The main cause of suffering on animals is done by humans, anyone with animal be it a dog , cat , bunny or whatever will know , they need very little but offer so much in return , as an animal lover I support animals charities aswell as human ones.

 

[lynnonthelake]

I was in Churchill Square in Brighton yesterday and they had a stand there for "Cats Protection" (sic). I wondered why cats needed protection? Protection from what?! I understand that the RSPCA protects animals against cruelty. So why have a special one for cats? Apparently there's another one - the NCDL for dogs.
I don't approve of cruelty to animals but I do find it strange that with all the human suffering in the world that human causes are not prioritised a little more highly. I don't want cats to suffer, but if it came down to it, I couldn't care if they all vanished tomorrow! Dogs too! Humans matter more unless they are: 1) Prisoners convicted of certain crimes 2) Chavs / benefit scroungers 3) Corrupt MPs 4) Lying celebrity types (Like Lulu) or greedy people that inflict misery (Dennis Basso).

I couldn't care less if certain humans vanished tomorrow,pets play a small part of our lives,but to them we are their whole life.
Lynn :mysmilie_48:

 

[srhgts]

I was in Churchill Square in Brighton yesterday and they had a stand there for "Cats Protection" (sic). I wondered why cats needed protection? Protection from what?! I understand that the RSPCA protects animals against cruelty. So why have a special one for cats? Apparently there's another one - the NCDL for dogs.
I don't approve of cruelty to animals but I do find it strange that with all the human suffering in the world that human causes are not prioritised a little more highly. I don't want cats to suffer, but if it came down to it, I couldn't care if they all vanished tomorrow! Dogs too! Humans matter more unless they are: 1) Prisoners convicted of certain crimes 2) Chavs / benefit scroungers 3) Corrupt MPs 4) Lying celebrity types (Like Lulu) or greedy people that inflict misery (Dennis Basso).

There are dozens of cancer charities or heart disease charities, no one ever says there should only be one of those. Why shouldn't there be as many devoted to any given thing as people care to set up? The RSPCA is vastly overrated anyway, in my experience they don't care a great deal about helping animals at all.
It's not about not caring about human suffering, who says you can only be bothered by one thing?

 

[iloveshopping]

Julius you are living in a country obsessed by having pets. There are whole aisles at the supermarket that I don't walk down as they just seem to have animal stuff. Even if the Brits go abroad they set up donkey sanctuaries, camel rescue, dog rescue you name it someone has set up a charity for it.

 

[Vienna]

People should have the choice to support whatever charities they choose and also not to support a charity if they so choose. The World has lots of charities from wildlife, environment, health, research, children, animals etc etc etc, too many to mention. Everybody has different priorities as to what is or isn`t important enough to support. There are no right or wrong answers and no particular type of charity is more/less important than another.
Often our support changes as we go through life. As a teenager I supported environmental charities because I was growing up in a World I worried about. In my 30`s I supported the Stroke association because my Mum died of one. In my 50`s I supported a cancer charity because my husband died of cancer and along the way I`ve put money into collection boxes for everything from Save the Children, Help for Heroes, The Sally Army, RSPCA, PDSA, and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. Giving to any charity isn`t always a constant. People go through stages of being able to afford to give and not being able to afford to give. If I`m ever widowed again ( God forbid ) and my only companions are my cat and my dog then I may choose to only support an animal charity in my twilight years. That doesn`t mean throughout my life I haven`t considered people, children, health, research and Uncle Tom Cobbley !

 

[Autumn]

Julius you are living in a country obsessed by having pets. There are whole aisles at the supermarket that I don't walk down as they just seem to have animal stuff. Even if the Brits go abroad they set up donkey sanctuaries, camel rescue, dog rescue you name it someone has set up a charity for it.

I wouldn't say we were obsessed by pets , people here Love pets , like many other countries love humans, 95% of the supermarkets aisles are for humans , surely having one aisle for pet foods isn't too much to ask :S

 

[iloveshopping]

http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2010/09/hit-child-animal-welfare-cat

Crufts the world's largest dog show? Breeding of pedigree dogs. Obsessions with pigs. A nation obsessed. New TV show celebrities and their dogs. I wonder if more is spent on makeup than pets though?

 

[Julius]

There are dozens of cancer charities or heart disease charities, no one ever says there should only be one of those. Why shouldn't there be as many devoted to any given thing as people care to set up? The RSPCA is vastly overrated anyway, in my experience they don't care a great deal about helping animals at all.
It's not about not caring about human suffering, who says you can only be bothered by one thing?

I'm not really saying there should be just one charity, but I do find it peculiar that there is one devoted to cats. Why do cats in particular deserve special protection? Are cats particularly vulnerable? I wouldn't have thought so considering most domestic cats live in households where they have tins of Sheba bought for them. What about badgers? There are reportedly sadistic people who go digging them up and torturing them. Badgers are nice creatures. Why not protect them? What about moles? They are cute and harmless, just making tunnels and little molehills, yet people go trapping and poisoning them. Why isn't there a mole protection league?
If anything there should be a charity set up a to protect human beings against the dotty, cat-worshipping battleaxes that place cats on a pedestal in an almost fetishistic way and can't see what's really important in life! Such women (and they are predominantly women "d'un certain age") can't even put an apostrophe in the correct place! One tends to find fewer men worshiping cats. It's definitely a woman thing. I don't see that cats have many redeeming features. They are furry little killers.

 

[iloveshopping]

My aunt by marriage was completely obsessed by her 2 cats announcing to me one day that her cats were more important than her own life and indeed they were 2 very pampered cats. When she had gone completely bonkers and the fridge was full of milk and cat food, she refused to move into sheltered accommodation despite loads of people trying to help her. In the end social services had to take control of her finances and put her in a home with her cats.