[TGE-mail] CAVEAT FOR PET OWNERS (I think)

[Bookscoming at aol.com]

First I want to thank everyone who offered any kind of help in finding my  
cat Lily; I truly appreciate your kindnesses. Second, I'm happy to report that  
Lily is back as of this afternoon, Day 5. What I'm not happy about is the way  
she was found, and it occurs to me that this could indicate some kind of  
low-level scam that might affect others. I'm more than a little embarrassed to  
share the details, as they make me out to be mentally challenged; I should  
surely have known better. But in hope that this will spare even one other  pet 
owner, here I go:
 
The phone rang early this afternoon and a young-sounding female voice asked  
if I had a cat named Lily. After five days I was nearly delirious to hear that 
 this young lady and her husband had my cat and seemed to be taking good care 
of  her. But here are  the facts of the situation, and I still acted clueless 
 at every turn:
 
1. Lily has two ID tags: an "AVID" micro-chip tag with a number to call if  
she is found; and a silver St. Francis medal with her name and my phone number  
on the back.
 
2. The finders claimed they took her to a vet because she seemed to have  
been hit by a car. Yet she came back to me without a scratch. But if her  
"injuries" were so minor, why didn't they just call one of the numbers on her  tags? 
(Obvious answer: then they would have had to depend on the kindness of the  
owner for a reward rather than spell out the precise amount they wanted.) Also  
they showed up without a receipt from the vet. 
 
3.  I asked these folks if they could possibly bring her over, as I'm  not 
allowed to drive, and they readily agreed, saying they were only a couple of  
blocks away. Well, it was dislike at first sight. For one thing, the woman  
looked considerably older than she had sounded, and she wasn't smiling. Second,  
she was carrying Lily with her head and body wrapped in 4-5 thicknesses of  
blankets, as if she had turned feral again...
 
...and indeed she had, for a while. These people had not treated her  well at 
all. 
 
And what did I do? They had mentioned a $30 vet bill. I gave them a check  
for $50.  
 
But wait--there's more (blush). On the phone, I had asked how to make out  
the check. The woman said, "Better make it out to my husband, 'cause he has all  
the ID."  The name?  "John Johnson."
 
Right.
 
Anyone who's still reading may be happy to hear that I came to my senses  
shortly thereafter and stopped payment on the check. But Lily has been showing  
signs of something not good. She was ravenously hungry at first, and ate so 
much  so fast that she vomited--then did the same thing again (she who has never  
upchucked in my sight). She's still very much under the weather.
 
It breaks my heart to keep an animal indoors all the time when the outdoors  
is so accessible...but I'm seriously considering it. Meanwhile, if this  
humiliating confession of mine can prevent something similar from happening  to 
another pet and owner, I will not have blushed in vain.
 
All best,
Maggie I'm-not-usually-this-gullible Mangan
29xx Pennsylvania 
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