A former friend of ours received a stray female kitten as a pet and treated it very poorly. She tied it up inside the freezing laundry room in the winter and often left for days at a time without feeding it. We rescued the poor thing and told this person it got outside and ran away.

However, she found out it did not run away and is demanding the cat be returned, threatening to call the authorities. The kitten is a stray, has not been neutered or declawed yet. The person has no papers that show ownership of the animal. Does she have legal grounds to force the kitten to be returned? And if so, who can we call on her to intervene to stop the cruelty?

If it were me I would take it to a rescue and tell them exactly what you told us. I think they will deal it from there.

I agree with Bushg. Take it to the humane society, local animal shelter, or a rescue. Tell them that it was being abused and that the owner is trying to get it back.

Sounds like you stole her property. If you tell the police you'll look pretty bad...

But sometimes you have to take a stance for things you believe in.

If the laundry room was community property in an apartment building, and a kitten was tied... and had no tags and was there abandoned for several days. Who knows how the police would look at it.
Anyway it may be against the law to tie up a cat as in some places they are considered wild animals. Or where I live they are and I'm in a city of 25,000 people.

Let her tell the authorities... a) I bet she wouldn't if you told her the facts about the way she treated the poor little thing and b) if she did, I'm sure the authorities would be pleased for it to have a nice and loving home like yours!

I know this is a little sly, but you could always deny all knowledge of it being hers... I'm sure there's more than one moggy that looks similar to that of hers!!

Sorry, but she doesn't deserve tp have a livign thing in her company - maybe you should put her in the freezing laundry room, tied up with no food... sounds like she's more of an animal than the poor cat if you ask me!

Well done you for rescuing it and giving it the loving home it deserves! :-)

Let her call the authorities! Can she prove it is her cat? Any vet records that include the description? Doesn't sound like it. You didn't happen to take a picture of the conditions the cat was being kept in, did you? Find out what the state and local laws are that she has violated. Im no expert (although I have rescued: read, stolen, a few animals in my time); I don't think you have to give up the cat unless there is a law enforcement officer on your doorstep with a warrant. Of course, turning her over to the shelter/humane society is another option; suspect she will have a heck of a time convincing them to adopt it back out to her.

Technically, you have stolen her property. Realistically, she will have a hard time proving that she owned the cat unless she had it microchipped or has other vet bills to show for it. I'd tell her that she is free to go to the police with this matter if she wants, and you will simply tell them that you saw the cat left tied up in the laundry room with no food, water, or adequate shelter, so you assumed it had been abandoned and took it in. I would also find out what the penalties are for animal cruelty in your area, and casually mention what sort of fines she could be looking at if the police decided to charge her with that.

And please do not have the cat declawed! There are many other ways of dealing with cats and their need to scratch. Read up on what's involved in a declaw surgery and have a frank discussion with your vet about it, and hopefully you will change your mind on doing it.