A North Vancouver family is fighting to bring their cat Simba home after he disappeared earlier this month and was later adopted by another family.
“I’ve had Simba since the day he was born, literally the day he was born,” said Simba’s original owner, Rachel Sinclair. “He’s our dog’s siblings, he’s my best friend, he’s our family member.”
According to Sinclair, Simba went missing while her dad, Robert Sinclair, was out of town.
They later learned that Simba had been found injured, brought to the Norgate Animal hospital, transferred to the West Vancouver SPCA and ultimately adopted into a new home.
“Twenty-four hours rolled around, and Simba had not come and laid on my bed, my face like he normally does, and I was concerned,” Robert Sinclair said.
The BC SPCA says Simba arrived in its care without any permanent identification.
Under provincial law, the organization says stray animals must be held for at least four days before they can be adopted.
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“I look at my pets like they’re family members. If your child disappeared, would four days be enough time, if it was found?” Robert Sinclair said. “It’s not. Four days, I don’t think is reasonable.”
The organization says it kept Simba in its care for longer than the required time frame but the Sinclair family did not contact it until after the adoption was finalized.
“Once an animal has been adopted, not only do the previous owners, but also the BC SPCA loses all legal right or ownership to that animal,” BC SPCA communications senior director Kaila Wolf said.
“So, unfortunately, despite the fact that we completely understand that this situation is absolutely devastating for Simba’s previous owners, we actually are not legally able to interject or overturn that adoption at all.”
Wolf says situations involving unidentified animals are unfortunately common.
Last year, the BC SPCA received more than 5000 animals. The SPCA was unable to find the owners of 85 per cent of the cats brought into care.
“The real and a concerning part of that is it can be avoided through permanent identification,” Wolf said.
“Having a tattoo on your animal, having a microchip and very, very importantly, you need to make sure that the contact information that’s linked to that permanent identification is up to date.”
The Sinclair family acknowledges Simba did not have a microchip or tattoo and says, in hindsight, they wish he had.
“We’ve provided a good, loving home for this animal for six and a half years, and we feel like we still have the right to do that,” Robert Sinclair said. “The SPCA’s position is that they followed protocol.”
Rachel Sinclair says they are not blaming the family who adopted Simba. They are just hoping the new owners learn that he already had a family.
“There’s no anger, animosity towards you. I just want my Simba home,” she said. “We will help you get a cat that is in need of a home, because he has a home.”
A post on Rachel Sinclair’s facebook page from Robert Sinclair (both people in this news clip) and I quote:
“your an idiot nobody said he was neutered the owner said he thought he was microchipped like the rest of his family
there’s no laws about having a male cat find something better to do with your time”
Interesting they are using the law to justify not having the cat neutered, and then turn around and blast the SPCA for following the law when it comes to stray cats.
The more nonsense these people post on social media the more I support the cat never being returned to them.
Whether or not anyone “likes” the staff at the SPCA, West Van or otherwise is a moot point and, I understand how emotionally tolling it is to deal with irresponsible pet owners day in and day out.
The inconsistencies in the stories told by the family in order to try and manipulate the public are numerous.
If you let your cat outside, without permanent ID, and it’s picked up for whatever reason, that cat is classified as a stray and don’t even get me started on how irresponsible it is to let an intact male roam.
They’re lucky the cat lasted this long.
The woman who runs west van spca is a disgusting human I talked with her one a horrible experience, she is rude and very ignorant towards people
@Try This nice attempt at making us look like negligent pet owners in your comment but having read your dribble before it’s no shock and is certainly spoken like someone who has never adopted a cat before. Ours was 16 at the time and at her age she never left our property other than to visit our immediate neighbours, and even that was rare. The person that stole our cat actually came onto our property to grab her and take her to the SPCA. Again, she was tattooed and linked to our email, house phone and my cell phone but the SPCA never bothered contacting us, and once I found her in their shelter they were more concerned with trying to shame us than worrying about the welfare of our 16 year old girl.
Then again I’m not surprised by your ignorant comments, as it
Seems like your M.O. 9n here is to criticize everyone else probably because you’re the perfect person LOL.
“””“The real and a concerning part of that is it can be avoided through permanent identification,” Wolf said.”””
Any responsible pet owner has their ‘best friends’ micro-chipped. We travel extensively throughout North America…and have confirmed that our dog’s micro-chip can be read in Canada, The US, and Mexico and has both my and my Wife’s current contact information. In Mexico, a friends dog was promptly returned after it took of after being freaked out by a jack hammer at the adjacent proper….the vet read the microchip and called them …..and a happy reunion was promptly set up.
I wonder why the reporter and Global made the decision to not mention the cat not only didn’t have a microchip but was also intact and allowed to roam?
How is this news?
I am a family member of the adopters and they will not be giving the cat back. The cat is now LEGALLY theirs and they will never allow him to go back to that situation.
Why not get the animal microchipped?
SPCA, SOCIETY FOR PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. The West Van location needs to contact the adoptees and reverse their decision. I’m sure the adoptees would agree. The whole situation reeks of cruelty both to the cat and the family, common sense shall prevail. Michael
How to Get Your Cat Microchipped
BC SPCA Animal Hospitals: If you are local to the area, you can book an appointment for a microchip at the Vancouver SPCA Animal Hospital or check with your closest regional branch.Community Clinics: The BC SPCA and BC Pet Registry frequently host low-cost or free microchipping events in the community throughout the year.
Registration: If your cat is already microchipped, you can register them directly in the BC Pet Registry for a one-time lifetime fee.
When I was a volunteer at the local SPCA many years ago I adopted a cat from there. I asked to have it microchipped and was told they didn’t do that anymore. She lived for 16 years and was always kept indoors.
“We didn’t take care of our cat, let’s whine to the media.”
These people can’t keep they stories straight, on numerous posts (where the majority of people seem to understand that you should not have an intact male cat and allow them to roam the neighbourhood), thank god. First they got the cat from the SPCA and then they got the cat from a rescue and now they had the cat since the day it was born?
I certainly hope Simba’s new adoptive family doesn’t feel bad, you’ve done a very good thing for this boy and we know the Sinclair’s would let that cat out again. Rachel even said “oh we tried to keep him but we couldn’t” Well of course not, intact males are driven to go find females, fight other cats, and of course spray urine. At least two neighbours have said that Simba had sprayed their patios and patio furniture and tried to get into their house to go after their cat.
They were negligent and frankly don’t deserve that cat back no matter how hard they cry.
So this family regularly let their cat wonder outside. “Twenty-four hours rolled around, and Simba had not come and laid on my bed like he usually does”. They did not even go looking for their cat until long after 4 days. Shows total lack of concern, and lack of responsibility.
They should not be allowed to own animals, never mind getting the adopted cat back.
Anonymous of June 22 falls into the same category. “an outdoor cat”. Obviously no ensuring the cat did not prowl the neighbourhood, disturbing the other animals.
They are lucky, as there are way more stray cats than people adopting. The cats regularly are put down to reduce the overcrowding.
From my own experience the SPCA is a joke. About 10 years ago our 16 year old cat (mostly an outdoor cat except at night) didn’t come home one night. Yes she was tattooed before anyone asks. Next day I went to the local shelter in Maple Ridge and found her there being processed for adoption. The teenager working there then told me my cat was neglected, had bad teeth, was underfed and all matted (long hair breed) and that I had to pay $350 for a vet check to prove I wasn’t a negligent owner. Paid the ransom for the vet to tell the SPCA “the cat is 16, of course her teeth are failing and she is a dainty old lady”. Again, they never called us to say a neighbor brought the cat in as a stray and made us out to be cruel owners.
This is not the entire story. Simba was an intact male who was allowed to roam, there is even a video of Robert Sinclair laughing about the cat not coming home for days.
There was also a post made by a family member saying that the cat was outdoor cat who fought other cats and racoons and when they didn’t see the cat for a week they just thought it had been killed and it was only after Robert Sinclair came home that they decided to look for the cat.
The cat was put up on the West Vancouver SPCA website as a injured stray on June 3rd, the first post the family made was on June 17th.
The Sinclairs are the only one’s responsible for what happened to Simba. They didn’t even provide the most basic care of neutering and permanent ID.
While I understand they are sad, I hope this is a lesson about responsible pet ownership.
The SPCA is not the bad guy here, any day a stray cat is found, injuries treated, neutered and adopted out, it’s a good day.
So irresponsible pet owners are now whining when suffering the consequences
Very Canadian