Just another well fed, two family cat ;)
Posted on 06/30/2016 1:40:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway
One cat.
Two families.
And, a whole lot of mystery about what happened over the past two and a half years.
One woman said her cat went missing in September of 2013.
Another woman said a cat was begging to come into her home at exactly the same time.
She and her husband let it in and kept the cat for two and a half years, claiming they couldn’t locate the owner.
Meanwhile, the original owner has been living three doors away from the cat and never knew it all this time
Joey is the Himalayan cat at the center of this tale, and he is tugging at the heart strings of two Bloomingdale families.
Joey was adopted by Nichole Milone in March of 2011.
With taxes, she paid $1,100 for him and has the papers to prove he was micro chipped.
But, Shawnie and Steve Godke have been caring for Joey for the last two and half years, after the white cat darkened their door day after day, they claim.
Shawnie said the cat was abused, neglected and unwanted.
2013 photos show Joey when his fur was matted, dirty and he was filled with burrs.
That cat, she and her husband contend, found them.
“He was trying to come in for months upon months upon months,” she said. “And, we said ‘Here is food and water, now go home kitty cat. You need to go home to your owners.'”
But, he kept coming back, she said.
Meanwhile, just three doors down in September of 2013, Milone filed a police report, contacted her microchip manufacturer PetKey and posted a hundred or so of these fliers all over town at animal shelters, the police station, even local grocery stores looking for her indoor/outdoor cat Joey.
Nothing.
“I assumed he was probably taken by a coyote or something,” Milone said.
Fast forward two and a half years later to April 29, 2016.
Milone was entering her yard from the back and happened to glance up at her neighbor’s home where she said she saw her own cat.
“What is the possibility that my cat is three doors down from my house this whole time?” Milone said.
Pretty good, apparently.
Milone called police, had his microchip scanned and it was indeed Joey.
Police won’t press charges, and the Godkes refuse to give up their prized pet.
They admit they never reached out to police or any animal shelters when they took Joey in.
They relied solely on the microchip system to reunite this cat with its rightful owner.
One problem: Their vet looked up the chip number on just one website: RFID-USA Microchip Registry – USA.
It showed “microchip unregistered.”
If you plug in that same 10-digit number on the American Animal Hospital Association site, missing cat Joey comes right up and links you with the PetKey people.
And, when you simply Google “Joey missing cat Bloomingdale Illinois,” PetKey’s link is the first one listed.
Also, the Godkes have been calling the cat Joey from almost the start.
How is that possible if they never knew the animal before it showed up at their home?
They said a neighbor in the same subdivision told them about the name.
So, they went with it.
“This neighbor that told our neighbor said that this cat must be from somewhere in the subdivision and that woman heard his name must somehow be Joey,” Shawnie said. “My focus was on what was best for this animal. And, if this person that decided to give it that type of life wanted it back, then that person was going to have to come and make themself available.”
Milone said she has tried.
“I have a cat that has a chip, and I can’t get it back. So, what’s the point of the chip?” Milone said. “I’m not furious. I’m not mad at them. I think it’s sad how they are handling the situation. I feel the same way that they did. He was part of my family.”
So, what now?
Police said there is no criminal intent in this case.
They refuse to press charges.
Both sides have hired lawyers.
They both want Joey the Cat.
In fact, the Godkes have even requested a no-trespass order from police so the Milone family risks arrest if they try to go to the Godke home.
A “for sale” sign already sits in the Godkes front yard.
Shared cat custody not a likely resolution.
The cat must be enjoying all this.
Meanwhile, just three doors down in September of 2013, Milone filed a police report, contacted her microchip manufacturer PetKey and posted a hundred or so of these fliers all over town at animal shelters, the police station, even local grocery stores looking for her indoor/outdoor cat Joey.
We had a cat for nearly 17 YEARS and when we took in a stray kitten, the older cat started staying around less and less, then not at all. We thought she was long dead this past Christmas, then I saw her last month a block away. She wouldn’t let me touch her, but seemed to remember me. She has no teeth and my husband (a vet) is amazed that she is still alive and as healthy as she is. I hate that she won’t be with us when her time comes.
You pay $1,000.+ dollars for a cat and you let it go outside? Joey is better off with the family he found to keep him.
If it was the Democrats would have no base!
Have you ever seen a loose cat starve? I haven’t.
According to the bird people they are great killing machines fully capable of exterminating all North American songbirds.
How could they starve in a land full of doves and pigeons and sparrows and starlings and rats and mice?
It’s like those people who call the fire department to “rescue” cats in trees. When’s the last time you ever saw a cat skeleton stuck in a tree? As many 9/11 calls as there are the trees should be festooned with feline vertebrae dangling thick as Christmas tinsel.
We had a tuxedo tomcat that would disappear sometimes for a week or two. Then show up non the worse for wear. Turns out he going over to the street behind us and hanging out with a widow lady. When he got tired of what she was feeding he’d come home. He kept that up for a few years until she had to go into assisted living. He gave her comfort and made her happy.
Pet abusers don’t file police reports, put up flyers all over town, or have their pet micro-chipped. If the cat was in poor condition when he first showed up at their house, they might have assumed something bad happened to him, but the micro-chip would have been a serious clue that he was someone’s cherished pet. And if one neighbor knew the cat’s name, they might have expanded their search to find the owners, as the owners did to find their pet. They did nothing of the sort. Sorry, but it sounds they’re making up their story as they go along.
As the article, had you read it, clearly states,
"in September of 2013, Milone filed a police report, contacted her microchip manufacturer PetKey and posted a hundred or so of these fliers all over town at animal shelters, the police station, even local grocery stores looking for her indoor/outdoor cat Joey."
Even though they tried to find the cat, the fact that they had allowed him to be outside could have meant that they were indifferent in caring for him.
However, the people who had taken in the cat may have felt that the Milone's were not caring for him, especially if there condition of the cat is a true one.
The average age of a feral cat is about 2 years compared to an indoor cat which is about 15.
However, that doesn't mean the cat wasn't being neglected or those who took him in felt he was being neglected and did want to return the cat to it's owners.
$1100 for a cat that they allow to go outside. We have a Himalayan and she is indoors only.
We have a ginger cat purchased from county shelter as a kitten. She is fixed and loves to be inddors and out. When out she never strays from our property. Often in the early evening I find her up on the roof sitting and scanning the neiborhood. If she refuses to come in at night, I can usually find her on the chaise lounge right outside my office. Rarely does she refuse to come in, she likes to eat a little kibble and demands that someone pets her as she eats. Spoiled brat. She is 12 years old.
You’re giving them too much credit. They stole the cat.
Our two cats go out in the summer. Used to be year round but the oldest can no longer hack it so I bring them both in at the end of September, bring them to the groomers for a defleaing and then they are inside til may. Love having them outside and they mostly stay in the front yard with an occasional foray into the woods.
If, according to their account, the cat wasn’t being cared for, they didn’t steal it.
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