A woman who left her rescue cats with others for five years, visiting occasionally, has lost her battle to get them back.
The B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal cat fight was over two pets named Vagrant and Nicholas Cage.
Kori Lancaster claimed before tribunal member Megan Stewart that Colinda Dreger and Cristopher Lindstrom removed Vagrant and Nicholas from her condo without consent around May 30, 2022.
The applicant only sought the cats’ return and valued their return at $5,000.
Dreger and Lindstrom said Lancaster abandoned Vagrant and Nicholas when they moved into Lancaster’s condo around March 2017 and she moved to a different B.C. city.
The pair said they looked after the cats for five years, including paying for food, litter and vet bills before Lancaster sought the cats’ return, according to the tribunal’s July 14 decision.
They claimed the cats no longer belong to Lancaster.
Lancaster said the two had a shared living arrangement and were her roommates, since she “continued to use the condo as a primary and mailing address and would stay in the condo multiple times a year” after they had moved in.
Dreger and Lindstrom, however, said Lancaster moved out of the condo leaving the cats, and only came to visit about four or five times a year.
Around April 7, 2022, Lancaster gave the pair notice to terminate the rental agreement so she could occupy the condo.
“Given this, I find the parties did not have a shared living arrangement, but rather that the respondents rented the condo from the applicant, and the applicant visited from time to time,” Stewart said. “I find this is relevant to my decision about whether the applicant abandoned Vagrant and Nicholas.”
That June, the parties met at the condo, where Lancaster discovered Dreger and Lindstrom had taken Vagrant and Nicholas to their new residence.
“The respondents refused to return the cats, claiming they no longer belonged to the applicant,” Stewart said.
Stewart said there was no dispute Lancaster rescued the cats as kittens and cared for them until Dreger and Lindstrom moved in.
Lindstrom said they had covered annual expenses of between $2,200 and $2,500 for the cats' care. The two were also registered as the cats’ owners and paid the licences. They were offered no compensation for that.
“I have found (Lancaster) was the cats’ owner until March 2017. After that, the applicant left Vagrant and Nicholas with (Dreger and Lindstrom) for over five years, moved to a different city and only saw the cats a few times a year, and did not contribute to the cats’ care and maintenance expenses.”
Stewart found Lancaster had abandoned the cats and dismissed her claim.