Woman hires PI, files civil suit in attempt to find lost cat

BROOKLINE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – It has been almost two years since Virginia Smith lost her cat, Lucy, but she refuses to give up on her feline friend.

"It's your pet, it's a member of your family, every pet owner knows that," Smith said.

Lucy was last seen when a person identified as Tuesday Thomas of Cambridge brought the calico cat to the MSPCA-Angell Memorial animal hospital, according to Wicked Local. Staff at the hospital reportedly told Thomas that Lucy had a chip and belonged to someone else.

Thomas gave the staff at the hospital a false name and address and refused to leave Lucy behind, Brookline police reported. Leaving the hospital with a pet that belongs to someone else is against the establishment's policy, but the staff can only do so much to enforce that rule. Up until this incident, the policy had never been violated.

Lucy was 2 years old at the time and had been missing from her original home for six weeks.

Smith was immediately notified that Lucy was at the shelter and began the search for Thomas and her cat.

"I'm a stay at home mom and a writer, so she was my little buddy," Smith said.

She posted hundreds of flyers, utilized social media and even hired Private Investigator Kevin Flynn to help with the search. With grainy surveillance footage, police and Flynn were able to find Thomas's home. However, the cat was not inside when police conducted a search.

Thomas's Attorney Ellen Rappaport Tanowitz reportedly said that Thomas let the cat go in her neighborhood after leaving the animal hospital.

"A cat is a piece of property, and it's not unlike as if you're going to the shopping mall and you saw a package on the bench and you take it to a store or two to find out whose it is, and you can't find it, and you put it back on the bench," Tanowitz said in the Wicked Local article. "That's what it is and that's what happened here."

Tanowitz said Thomas has not had the cat since May of 2012. However, Thomas has reportedly denied several allegations, including ever taking the cat to the animal hospital.

Smith went as far as filing a civil suit against Thomas. In court Tuesday, Smith's attorney asked the judge to order Thomas to testify and asked the court for a preliminary injunction, both were denied.

Smith believes that Lucy was last seen around May 6, 2012, in the area of Hampshire and Prospect Streets in Cambridge. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to come forward.

To read more: WickedLocal.com

Cox Media Group