(Vivian S) wrote:

Richard Evans wrote in message . ..
I work with a rescue group that has a contract signed by all
adopters. One clause states that if the animal is disposed of for any
reason it *must* come back to our group. We've had several instances
recently of people simply giving away animals they've adopted from us.
In three cases. the animals found their way back to us via third
parties. We would like to take action against the adopters who
violated their contracts. Is such a thing feasible?

Dick Evans

This is a very interesting policy to protect the animal. Does it
matter how much time has passed since the animal was adopted out and
then returned?

No. For the life of the animal, we take it back. We've taken back
animals after more than three years. In one case, the family had a
baby and the cat's personality underwent a drastic change.

I ask b/c I notice this one cat at my local shelter
keeps getting adopted and returned. Also, does the cat have to stay in
the state or can the adopter move to another part of the country with
the cat? (this would apply to my situation).

Adopters can go wherever they want. Of course, we have no formal way
of keeping track of them. In the three recent incidents, the cats were
given away complete with their adoption papers and our contract. The
third parties then contacted us and returned the cats. But, there is
no telling how many have been disposed of without us knowing about it.

Why people don't simply call us to return the animal is beyond me. We
stress that point at adoption, yet some people would rather just dump
and run.

Dick Evans