Two women are fighting over a cat named Bob in a custody battle across state lines. Alex Streight of North Carolina and Carol Holmes of Kansas are making headlines with their feud over who Bob belongs to.
One cat, two moms
According to WRAL, Bob is a 14-year-old tuxedo cat.
In 2013, Holmes adopted Bob in Wichita, Kansas. A few months later, he disappeared. Shortly thereafter, Streight (who lived in Wichita at the time) found Bob “in bad condition” outdoors.
“He was in horrible shape,” Streight said. “I fed him, kept looking for [the] owner. I posted in the Wichita groups, but I never found anyone.”
Streight took Bob to a local veterinarian. She claims the vet didn’t scan for a microchip. She kept the cat and renamed him Maui. Then, in 2015, Streight moved 1,800 miles away to Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, with her family. They’ve lived there ever since.
Bob the cat in middle of custody battle
However, on Aug. 19, one of Streight’s neighbors saw the cat roaming around. The neighbor took the cat to Five Points Animal Hospital in Fuquay-Varina. There, a staff member scanned the cat and found a microchip. The contact information was for Holmes. The clinic contacted Holmes, and she responded.
“She was excited she found her cat she had been looking for him for years,” Scott Wilson, practice manager at Five Points Animal Hospital said.
Complications arose, however, when Streight tried to claim the cat at the clinic. She produced vet records, but because she didn’t microchip the cat, Wilson didn’t consider her to be Bob’s parent. The ordeal “caused a lot of drama” for the clinic.
Authorities get involved
The authorities are now involved in the cat custody battle. On Tuesday, Streight took out a warrant for larceny of the cat at the local magistrate’s office. There, she found out that the cat was in the possession of Wake County Animal Control.
When Streight arrived at Wake County Animal Control, staff informed her she could not take the cat home “under any circumstance.”
“The cat is in protective custody,” Dr. Jennifer Federico of Wake County Animal Control stated. “The cat is safe and isolated.”
She agreed with Wilson that the only way to prove ownership of a pet is with microchipping. However, her office is launching a full investigation into the matter.
Streight intends to keep advocating for the cat’s return.
“It’s just absurd to me that anyone would think to take someone’s pet away from the family that he’s been with for ten years,” she said.
