My teacher’s neighbor stole her cat and put it into a shelter, and the cat was sent to a pet store. Is that legal?

Question

My teacher has a cat that she loves dearly, the cat is microchipped. However, her neighbor stole her cat and surrendered it to a shelter and they didn't even bother checking the microchip and making sure it was her who was surrendering the cat. Now the shelter wants to charge her $100 and sent the cat to a pet store to be adopted.
Is that legal? For both the shelter to do that, and her neighbor to have stolen the cat like that?

Answer

It is illegal to steal another person’s animal. It is not illegal to take a wandering cat to a shelter, although if the animal’s “parent” is known to the person finding the animal the animal should be returned to his/her “parent” in most situations. Florida law requires shelters that take in lost or stray dogs or cats to adopt policies so that reasonable efforts are made to return the animals to their “parents.” Such policies and procedures must include “Upon intake, screening of lost or stray dogs and cats for identification, including tags, licenses, implanted microchips, and tattoos.” The law further requires shelters to adopt policies to match lost and stray dogs and cats with lost reports and to make reasonable efforts to notify the animals’ “parents” within 48 hours of identification. Impound fees are commonly charged for people who want to retrieve their pets. One way people can help to prevent their cats from being taken would be to keep the cats indoors where the cats will be safer. I hope this all works out well for your teacher's cat.