Cat adoption denied for having a Ball Python after taking home the cat. Help!

[GoingPostal]

Ugh what a mess. There's a lot of really over the top ridiculous rescues these days that have so many rules and regulations it's next to impossible to adopt. Finding one run by reasonable minded people is harder and harder each year. FWIW I'm considering adopting a bengal which are smart, strong, mischievous kitties and the rescue was fine with me adding a child safety knob to the reptile room to prevent the cat from getting in, once they made sure the snakes were properly contained and wouldn't be allowed around the cat they had no issue. A cat poses far more danger to a ball python than the other way around. Generally actually enforcing these types of contracts is far more difficult and costly than what is worth so I guess it depends how far you want to push things but I'd personally be quite irritated and try to do my best to keep my cat.

[Phillydubs]

I already chimes in but another defense you now have going for you is them taking their sweet time to come by!

make sure you lean heavy in that too. If this cat was in immediate danger they should rush right over or get an animal protection agency involved!

like I said before. Make sure the snakes are separate and the door closed and you have no issue.

I actually had to call the SCPA during my divorce because my exotic aquarium was being held hostage and no one knew how to care for the fish and I was afraid they would die. They showed up where they were being held took a full report and told the evil people keeping them from me that if but one fish died under their care it was a felony animal cruelty charge.

You can get an org in your corner and as long as you are properly caring for all your animals. There should be zero issue here.

[bcr229]

Personally I would diplomatically tell them to take a long walk off of a short pier and if they want to take the cat back they'll have to get a judge to rule that I was in violation of their contract. You, new cat owner layperson, have no knowledge of PetSmart's adoption policies other than what is in writing on that contract and they can't hold you to a stipulation that isn't on it. Further, if anything in the contract is ambiguous then that works in your favor since PetSmart drafted and presented the contract, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_proferentem.

If their policy is not to adopt out cats to homes with snakes then they need to add that language. Heck, PetSmart sells snakes - what if you purchased one from them the day after you brought the cat home? Would they refuse to sell a snake to you because they have it in their records that you adopted a cat from them? And if snakes are so dangerous to cats why would they keep cats and snakes in the same building?

[tttaylorrr]

Further, if anything in the contract is ambiguous then that works in your favor since PetSmart drafted and presented the contract, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_proferentem.

^ bingo. this is your answer, OP. tell them to kick rocks.

[ElliotNess]

They have 0 leg to stand on. If it says you cant have snakes is one thing but that's not the case. It says you may be refused if conditions weren't met. You were approved whether it was an oversight or not. Tell them take you to court. If you want the cat, keep the cat. Also it says they may make a visit to your home, nothing on there says that you must let them in. Im sure they will try.

[tttaylorrr]

i'm in complete shock at the lack of competence these stores continue to demonstrate. i'm sorry you're going through something so ridiculous.

to keep this short: the only person in violation is [the Agency] and that's by their own admission. THEY MESSED UP. keep whatever correspondence you have where they state they've "changed their minds" as that's proof of their violation; feel free to repeatedly remind them of this. i'd drop the L word (lawyer) like nobody's business; that usually gets people to back off.

their lack of competence and communication caused this. they're just scared of getting punished for their own mistake. the cat is yours. period. i want pics.

[hilabeans]

Sorry you are going thru this OP, but as far as I can tell you met your obligations, honestly completed the application, they approved you, your interaction with them has thus concluded.

If it were me, I would not take their calls and I would not allow them in my home. The transaction is finished. They can threaten legal action, but they will not go thru with it. They don't have a contractual violations case and the expense would be too great.

Good luck. I don't think your kitty is going anywhere.

P.S. Be sure to update the Caturday thread with pics of your siamese

[pretends2bnormal]

I agree with pretty much everything everyone has said above. It's awful that they approved and then changed their mind. As someone who has attempted to adopt a dog from a rescue/adoption agency while living in a 700 sq-ft apartment with no other pets, I've seen some pretty crazy requirements (even from small-breed/apartment-breed rescues like chihuahua and Pomeranian). From minimum 8-foot tall fence to fenced yard of >100 sq ft to general terms of the dog never being placed into a crate (not as a specific requirement for a traumatized animal) to monthly home-visits from the organization for 1-2 years after adoption, and more... We eventually just went to the county shelter and found a "bargain" dog we liked; only requirement was if he had not been fixed that we had 2 months to do so; completely reasonable for dogs especially.

Fight them on it. As far as I know, nothing in their contract is violated as long as the cat can't make its way into the snakes' cages or vice versa. Best chance of keeping them from being against it regardless of the cage security is to install a door-closer spring to the snake room (springs the door closed unless being held or propped open) and keep the door closed. I don't think legally they have any leg to stand on, but they could certainly continue to raise a stink despite you closing the door if there's a chance it is left open on accident; possibly by saying owner negligence could kill the cat or something. I'd personally want to just ignore them unless they try to take it to court, though I don't know if I'd be brave enough... I'd see if you can get a lawyer to let you know where you stand legally in this and act accordingly. I like the idea of the "hiss and mock-strike" strategy and it sounds like it would probably work perfectly if they're not confident they could win a legal battle. The biggest thing that concerns me is if you don't get legal counsel, if they do bring it to court, the bit under 7) that says "I understand I will be liable for expenses [the Agency] may incur by enforcing this contract."

So, see what a lawyer thinks on whether you have any risk from them under the terms of this contract. If they say the rescue can't take the cat under the contract, then fight them 110% or refuse to acknowledge them entirely. If they think the rescue may be able to enforce it, the monetary risk if they do go to court for them is $0 due to that last bit of clause 7). It would be entirely on you for their legal fees and your own, by my understanding, and would greatly reduce their hesitance to go to court. (and if it goes to court, it could create some very bad publicity for snake keepers as a whole.. no way the media would report on the case fairly if it blew up like that.)


Possible unpopular opinion: I think all the blame regarding them trying to remove the cat after approval should fall on the rescue/adoption agency and not PetSmart. I don't quite agree with throwing PetSmart under the bus in this case. Yes, they're awful for reptiles care and a lot of other animals they own & sell, I agree with that 100%, but (at least in my area) PetSmart primarily acts as the "host" for the various adoption/rescue agencies to do their adoptions, not just the weekend adoption events, the in store cages as well. From what I've seen locally, employees aren't following a PetSmart-specific policy in regards to the adoptions themselves and it's policy from the adoption agency that is hosted at that store.
I'm not sure how much of the care for the animals comes from PetSmart policy vs rescue policy, but either way the cats at the 5 different stores near me appear as cared-for as you could hope for when their biggest alternative is a shelter. (A foster is not a viable alternative to the store in a lot of cases because not all rescues have enough foster families available, and they would simply have to keep a smaller number of rescued animals, and the surplus would end up at a shelter; my sister-in-law is a cat/kitten foster for one of the few more reasonable rescues I've come across) There are individual cages and one-on-one time out in the visiting room with visitors/adopters and with some degree of regularity with only an employee for exercise that I've witnessed; the only cats kept >1 per enclosure are kittens that appear to be siblings.

As far as I can tell, adopting from the rescue via PetSmart is identical excluding the location to adopting directly from the rescue; contracts vary some between stores near me. Since the biggest issue here isn't the care, the blame falls on the rescue rather than the location.

As far as the cat not getting along with other cats, there's nothing they as a store can do about that, really. I know some stores do a big play-time in the visit room on bigger adoption weekends to draw attention. He may have been there by mistake (new or teen employee?) or brought out to visit with you despite the other cats. For his cage being high/him not liking heights, it's possible that no one knew it was height that was a problem for him. If he was only there briefly with employees varying by day and other cats to care for, they could have thought he was generally stressed by proximity to other cats or moving to the store. Possibly it was the only level an open cage was on when he arrived. The stores don't seem to like moving the cats around much near me, likely for similar reasoning behind why we give snakes acclimation time when we bring them home or change their cage dramatically. Maybe they were balancing his seeming general stress by letting him continue to acclimate in his environment without change?
Or this particular store is awful with cats despite instructions from the rescue. I don't really know. I can just think of a number of fairly good (and imo plausible) reasons for most of the things the store may be at fault for.

I might get some hate for offering defense for PetSmart here, but that's fine. They aren't even usually without fault, but it makes me uncomfortable when folks jump anyone so quickly in instances that may not be their fault.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Can't say that I am surprised, years ago when I tried to adopt a dog we went to adoption events held at petsmart by specific rescue groups, turned me off pretty quickly as the question ask by volunteers/fosters were as if I was actually adopting a child (not sure how someone gets approved), we went to our local humane society a week later and adopted our dog very easily signed the contract which was simple (without crazy demand) and that was it.

Some groups make it very difficult to adopt out animals and then they wonder why people do not adopt.

Now in your case if there is nothing in the contract mentioning not adopting out because you own snakes they have not leg to stand own, they just do not want to piss off their foster person who has obviously nothing better to do than play god and judge.

Based on their contract there is not much they can do, they cannot even get their way in the door as you can refuse entry and I doubt they will come back with the police department to legally get entry and inspect your home and take back the cat.

[Aedryan Methyus]

This has to be about the most ridiculous nonsense i've ever heard! Just simply ignore them and don't give the cat back. Problem solved... Tell them to stop contacting you and if they don't, file harassment charges.