Woman abandons her pet cat in plain sight in a Glasgow park on New Year's Day

NEWS AND COMMENT-GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK: I think this is an outrageous way to abandon your cat. In saying that, of course, every way of abandoning your cat is outrageous but this method caught my eye on my newsfeed today.

Tabby cat abandoned by a woman in plain sight in a Glasgow park. Looking frightened. Picture: SPCA.

The story is short. I don't have a lot of detail. It comes from the Daily Record.

A passer-by saw a white car driven up to the Clarkston Road entrance of Linn Park, on the south side of the city of Glasgow. The car was driven by a woman.

The woman got out of the car and walked 20 metres into the park carrying a pet carrier. She walked into a wooded area. She opened the carrier and released what appears to have been her pet tabby cat.

It was witnessed and the witness reported the matter to the Scottish SPCA. The witness also confronted the woman. The woman justified their actions by claiming that the cat was wild.

The witness then waited with the "terrified cat" who was actually very tame and certainly a domestic cat and also almost certainly formerly owned by the woman who abandoned him/her.

The Scottish SPCA spokesperson, inspector Lara Vickery, said that the cat is very friendly and terrified from her ordeal. She also said:

"We that people’s circumstances can change, but this is not the right way to give up an animal and the cat would have been caused a great amount of unnecessary distress. Unfortunately she is not microchipped."

Although the Animal Welfare Act 2006 does not specify an offence of animal abandonment, it is likely that the behaviour of this woman falls under that act as a crime because it is an act of animal cruelty and abuse. This act does not cover Scotland but they have their own animal welfare act called the Animal Health and Welfare Scotland (Act) 2006. As it is the same date, I expected to be very similar in its content. 

Note: I have specifically avoided using the word "alleged" in order to protect myself from defamation because based upon the witness evidence it seems certain that this woman abandoned her domestic cat. She lied about the cat being wild which was complete nonsense obviously. It was a feeble excuse to try and get herself off the hook. She won't be found I suspect and we hope the cat will be rehomed in a good home with a good caregiver. The woman who abandoned this cat clearly was not up to the job.