My cat came out of the shelter with rhinotracheitis. Why arent they responsible for taking care of it?

You allowed your cat to free roam and it got picked up by the shelter. Feel lucky it didn't get hit by a car or eaten by a coyote. Your cat probably got sick from being around stray cats NOT from the shelter.

First you are lucky that your cat is still alive, in my own town they only guarantee a 72 hour hold on any animals coming in, unless you call them and make arrangements to pick up the animal. Many animals are euthanized after that 72 hour hold simply because they don't have the room to hold them.

Second, no, the pound is not responsible for making sure that your cat is healthy when it leaves, they are only responsible for the animals they are adopting out, and even then in some areas they only give them the base necessities, and then the rest is up to the new owner. Your cat should have been up to date with his vaccinations to help prevent this from happening in the first place, the shelter is not responsible for your neglect.

the are indeed responsible for this. accidents happened and you are by no means a bad owner. for all we know the cat could have got out when you opened a door, or your kids let the cat out. or you went on vacation and the baby sitter let her out. their is no way to tell for sure that it was your fault.

if your cat got sick because of them they are responsible for not isolating the sick cat and preventing the disease in the ffirst place. if their cats are sick then they can get in trouble with animal rights for mistreatment and denying them vet treatment.

the only issue if you sue is proving that your cat got sick from them, an if you never put ads up around searching for the missing cat, they could claim you dont even care, you werent even looking for her.

just be careful which road you take. if these cats are sick and your cat did get sick from them, then their needs to be an investigation and animal rights need to be called based on the fact that these animals are not being kept healthy and indangering their lives and other animals lives.

at the very least give them a call try to work it out nicely. threaten to call anmal control or animals rights associations and get them down their. sue their asses off if you can afford it. they have no right to o this to you, your cat and the cats in their care.

If you kept your cat healthy he would have been vaccinated against rhino (which is included in the normal shots) and he would have been kept in your house. So no the shelter is not responsible. If he was outside and not vaccinated against rhino recently (1-3 yrs ago), then YOU are responsible for him getting sick - not the shelter.

If you had been a responsible pet owner, and 1) kept him indoors and 2) had him vaccinated he wouldn't be in the shelter to catch anything. Don't blame them for a problem of your own making

Fact is, he was in the pound because he was not with you, look after him better in the future.