Venting Mortified by my friends actions

[ThatStateOfMind]

I don't know where else I can post this and I don't want to tell anyone I know in real life. Basically, to sum everything up really shortly, my friend and his mom (he's unemployed so really more so his mom) didn't pay rent for two months and got an eviction notice, and then had to attend court and stuff so they had to move out. They had about 2 months to prepare but they waited until last minute and this is where the mortifying part comes in.

Before they left, they had around 20 cats. They literally left the cats there, they might already be dead. I don't know. It's disgusting and I don't know what to do. They moved into a motel with a no pet policy, they didn't have a car. I never asked about the cats because I never thought to but I asked yesterday and he told me that they just left them there. It's been maybe a week now, those cats are probably no longer living… I'm mortified and sitting here petting my cat trying to grasp how they could do that to those cats. I just needed to vent that out, I know he's my friend but I hope this has legal ramifications. I've even considered reporting it to the non-emergency police number.

 

[morendo]

holy shit what the fuck
they couldve at least taken them to the animal shelter or given them to friends/family thats horrible
pretty sure theres animal cruelty/rescue numbers u can call anonymously (whatever country ur in) if u want at least some consequences to happen
they could also help the cats find shelters/homes

 

[Forever Sleep]

There must be animal protection agencies you could call? If you don't want to damage your friendship with this guy- I think- putting pressure on him to take them to a shelter or something may be the better option.

If they were renting though, I imagine it's fairly likely their landlord will have visited their property by now- although, I guess it depends on where they live in relation. Normally though- when tennants leave, they come round to inspect the property and make up reasons as to why they're going to keep your deposit. Leaving pets behind I'm sure would be one. It's possible the landlord has already contacted an agency to remove them.

 

[ThatStateOfMind]

There must be animal protection agencies you could call? If you don't want to damage your friendship with this guy- I think- putting pressure on him to take them to a shelter or something may be the better option.

If they were renting though, I imagine it's fairly likely their landlord will have visited their property by now- although, I guess it depends on where they live in relation. Normally though- when tennants leave, they come round to inspect the property and make up reasons as to why they're going to keep your deposit. Leaving pets behind I'm sure would be one. It's possible the landlord has already contacted an agency to remove them.

I can't pressure because he's already moved. I imagine the landlord probably did come there and got the animals taken somewhere, I hope.

holy shit what the fuck
they couldve at least taken them to the animal shelter or given them to friends/family thats horrible
pretty sure theres animal cruelty/rescue numbers u can call anonymously (whatever country ur in) if u want at least some consequences to happen
they could also help the cats find shelters/homes

Exactly they didn't do much. I think consequences are soon to come, the landlords will eventually or may already have come by. They're either gonna find alive, but malnourished cats or dead cats. Either one will lead to some criminal consequences for them, since they're on file as the last person who lived there.

Your ex-friend, you mean? You should definitely report it.
Why did they have 20 cats in the first place if they couldn't even afford rent?

I don't even know why he had so many cats tbh.

 

[ThatStateOfMind]

Wait... "He had", not "they had"? So they were all just his cats, not his and his mother's, despite him being unemployed? Taking care of so many cats requires having very high income.

I guess they were both of theirs. I don't quite know why I said his. And they definitely didn't have a high enough household income to take care of that many. A lot of them died from sicknesses or failure to thrive when they were kittens (they didn't get them fixed or anything so they kept popping out babies).

For reference, their yearly household income is somewhere around 35,000. His mom is encouraging him to try and get on disability instead of getting a job, which I don't think there's anything wrong with disability, except he's able to work and refuses to.

 

[Celerity]

Contact the landlord. This had already (rightly) worried you enough. It's an awkward phone call to make, yeah, but you will be relieved to put your conscience at ease.

 

[sash]

Goodness, was quite a shock for you. Was he not in bits at least at having to leave them. Did it affect you more than him. Seems like it
Poor cats. Hopefully in a shelter now and better off.
Can I ask, are you looking for ppl to say yes u should report cos thats what you want to do but need validation, or are you just getting it off yr chest?

 

[ThatStateOfMind]

Contact the landlord. This had already (rightly) worried you enough. It's an awkward phone call to make, yeah, but you will be relieved to put your conscience at ease.

They're like impossible to get in contact with. It was a recently bought property and I have anxiety about phone calls and it kept building while I was on hold, and I was on hold for like 15-25 mins before I got too scared and ended the call.

Goodness, was quite a shock for you. Was he not in bits at least at having to leave them. Did it affect you more than him. Seems like it
Poor cats. Hopefully in a shelter now and better off.
Can I ask, are you looking for ppl to say yes u should report cos thats what you want to do but need validation, or are you just getting it off yr chest?

He was somewhat upset I think but he seems to view it as something that he had no other choice. Also the goal here is mainly to get it off my chest, not validation. I hope the cats are okay. I'll take a drive by the house when I'm nearby tomorrow and look into the window and see if I see any cats. If so, I'll call the non-emergency police number.

 

[sash]

They're like impossible to get in contact with. It was a recently bought property and I have anxiety about phone calls and it kept building while I was on hold, and I was on hold for like 15-25 mins before I got too scared and ended the call.

He was somewhat upset I think but he seems to view it as something that he had no other choice. Also the goal here is mainly to get it off my chest, not validation. I hope the cats are okay. I'll take a drive by the house when I'm nearby tomorrow and look into the window and see if I see any cats. If so, I'll call the non-emergency police number.

Thanks, asked about validation incase you needed the strength of others in agreement (if they agreed) to give you the confidence to do something if you felt the need :)
Thats kind of you to check in on the cats. Hope all is well.

 

[ThatStateOfMind]

Thanks, asked about validation incase you needed the strength of others in agreement (if they agreed) to give you the confidence to do something if you felt the need :)
Thats kind of you to check in on the cats. Hope all is well.

I did check and the cats aren't there which I think is a good thing. I'm assuming either landlords or police dealt with them, hopefully in a humane way. He actually told me that a cop said he would try and find a good place for the cats, so I hope that's what happened. :)

Thank you for asking about the validation as well! It's kind of you :)