Microchipped cat lands in middle of legal dispute after lost pet is adopted by another family

A rescue group in Ohio is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a mother who claims the nonprofit gave away her microchipped cat to another family.Gabrielle Ciofani filed the civil suit against the Euclid Beach Cat Project after learning her cat, O’Ryan, had been adopted out following his disappearance in March, as reported by Cleveland 19 News.According to Ciofani, the situation unfolded in July when she received a phone call regarding her missing pet. The caller told her that O’Ryan had been located, given medical treatment and placed with a new home after an initial scan failed to reveal a microchip.Ciofani recalled being told: “‘We found your cat, and we didn’t detect a microchip in him initially. We took him in. We gave him medical care. We sent him out with a new family to adopt him.’” However, Ciofani said that O’Ryan was registered with the national database 24Petwatch.An Ohio mother has filed a lawsuit against an animal rescue group after learning her missing microchipped cat was adopted out to another family without her consent (AFP via Getty Images)“It’s very clear,” Ciofani said. “If you take a pet to a vet and they scan it and it says, ‘Alert, this pet is missing,’ and it belongs to this family.”Police in Highland Heights advised Ciofani that retrieving her pet was a civil matter, leading to the current legal filing. Ciofani noted that she only realized the caller was affiliated with the nonprofit rescue group after contacting police.“I do believe at one point Euclid Beach Cat Project said that they encouraged the family to return him to us, but that they, for whatever reason, that this isn’t necessarily their problem anymore,” Ciofani said. An attorney representing the Euclid Beach Cat Project released a statement regarding the ongoing litigation, Cleveland 19 reported. “My office represents Euclid Beach Cat Project in the claim filed against it by Gabrielle Ciofani,” the attorney said. “As described in the text messages attached to the Complaint, EBCP rescued the cat when he was in perilous health. At the time, he was scanned and no chip was located. “After nursing the cat to health, he was re-homed to another family, but EBCP did not have knowledge that he was microchipped until after he was re-homed. Because the matter is in litigation, EBCP cannot comment further.”Ciofani, whose 11-year-old daughter also shares the pet, said she was unaware of who currently had O'Ryan or if he would ever be returned.