Her missing cat was adopted. After losing in court, she’s offering $1K for Bob’s return

SPANAWAY, Wash. – A Spanaway woman whose outdoor cat was adopted by a family after it wound up in a shelter has lost her court case seeking the return of the feline, she said Tuesday.

Kelly DeKett sued the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County late last month, accusing it of negligence and interfering with her effort to recover her black-and-gray tabby named Bob, who she suspected had been stolen by somebody who wrongly brought it to the shelter.

The Humane Society denied wrongdoing.

DeKett, 52, had owned Bob for more than three years and, although an outdoor cat, he resided inside during cold and rainy winter months, according to the lawsuit. He had no identification tag nor was he micro-chipped.

After Bob didn’t come home for dinner on Oct. 1, DeKett’s search led her to the Humane Society’s web page for lost-and-found pets, but DeKett dismissed a photograph that she later learned was Bob because the picture was grainy and the description misstated his colors, the suit said.

He was ultimately adopted by a new owner.

The Humane Society filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Nov. 12. Its motion was granted during a hearing Monday in Pierce County Superior Court, according to DeKett and the Humane Society.

“Throughout this process, we have remained committed to transparency and cooperation to ensure the facts were thoroughly reviewed,” Humane Society spokesperson Lauren Green said in a statement. “We will continue to focus on providing compassionate care for every animal who comes through the doors of our open-admission shelter, and to those in need of support in our community.”

While DeKett said she has accepted her piece of accountability and learned hard lessons from Bob’s departure, she added that she felt shut down by the court as she tried to push back against what she said were untruths from the animal shelter.

“I feel really let down by the system,” DeKett said in an interview.

Now, DeKett said she is offering $1,000 to the new owner if Bob is returned. She also pledged to pay the costs for them to adopt a different animal if they want.

“I’m pleading to them,” she said.

The Humane Society had refused to provide Bob’s new whereabouts to DeKett, according to the lawsuit. Green said that shelter leadership left messages for the adoptive family.

“The family is under no obligation to engage with the plaintiff or to return the cat,” Green said. “We cannot assess the family’s willingness to return the cat.”

In a court-filed response to allegations, the Humane Society defended not disclosing the family’s identity to DeKett, arguing that doing so would “have a severe chilling effect on further adoptions” and made no sense because it said DeKett couldn’t establish that she was entitled to the cat or that the new owner wrongfully obtained the animal.

DeKett claimed that she provided the shelter with evidence of rightful ownership.

The Humane Society said that Bob was adopted after having been in its shelter for three days – not “within 36 hours” as DeKett alleged she was previously told by an employee, court records show. The shelter holds stray pets for a minimum of three days before the adoption process begins, according to its website.

The Humane Society refuted DeKett’s allegations that the shelter should have realized Bob was brought in by somebody with ill intent and that it should have declined to accept Bob because he did not look like a stray. It noted that “plenty of owners” leave pets behind when they move or change their minds about being a pet owner.

“Absent a collar, a license, or a chip, the Humane Society … had zero tools to identify any owner, let alone DeKett as an owner,” the filing said. “Under DeKett’s theory, the Humane Society should reject the surrender of a stray if the pet seems well fed, has a soft coat, or it seems well taken care of. This is an absurd contention and would have the Humane Society turn down the surrender of strays if they seem cared for.”

During Monday’s hearing, Commissioner Barbara McInvaille questioned why DeKett didn’t immediately visit the shelter in person during her search, KOMO 4 reported.

“I find that you took over four days to go to the Humane Society,” she said, according to the outlet. “I think had you gone there sooner, you would have been able to identify that Bob was there.”

DeKett told the News Tribune that she regretted not visiting the shelter in person earlier, adding that in hindsight she wished she would have taken the time off work to do so.

“I’m kicking myself,” she said. “Trust me, I’ve been kicking myself.”

If she was to ever own a cat again, she added, she would get it micro-chipped, it would be an indoor pet and she would build an outdoor enclosed patio for its use.

The Humane Society encourages microchips in addition to identification tags, pet license tags and collars. Pet owners should regularly review and update their contact information linked to the microchip. The shelter provides low-cost microchipping services with national registration for owned pets.

DeKett, who said she was considering an option to revise and refile her complaint, can be reached at (253) 222-8050.