Goddard Veterinary Group Mandeville Veterinary Hospital-Northolt

On Saturday 5/6/21 I took a stray tabby cat to Mandeville to be checked over as I was concerned by the poor condition it was in. I had also been told by another member of the public who had previously taken it to a vet that it had some heart issues. It was extremely thin, had overgrown claws, and looked as if it had been living outside for some time, however it was very friendly and had obviously had a home in the past. When I took the tabby into the hospital I was asked to give my contact details - I gave your staff my mobile number, landline, and home address. On Sunday morning I called to find out how she was and a member of your staff told me no microchip had been detected, so no owner could be traced. I clearly stated that I was the finder and I gave my name and number AGAIN. On Monday a member of staff called me (the finder) and suggested I put up posters in the area where I found her (which I did) in the hope of an owner coming forward to claim her. When I asked what would happen to her if nobody did, I was told she would either go to the RSPCA or Cats Protection. Rather than have her sent to a shelter if no owner came forward, I clearly stated - more than once - that I would like to adopt her myself. I was told this was perfectly ok, but that as a stray she would need to be ‘held’ at the hospital for seven days just in case an owner came forward. I was assured that a note would be placed ‘on her file’ and outside her kennel stating that ‘the finder’ (me) had expressed interest in adopting her and that this would ensure she was not sent to a shelter. Between Saturday 5/6 and Wednesday 9/6 I made multiple calls to the hospital to check on her (because I had been told she was a ‘geriatric’ cat) and during one of those calls, I was (quite rightly) asked to confirm my phone number so the receptionist could be sure that she was speaking to the correct person. Why then, by Friday morning, was I first told that (against my wishes as the finder willing to adopt her) she had been sent to Cats Protection, then told that she had been claimed by her owner, and then when I challenged the obvious pack of lies your staff were telling me, later told she had been collected by the ‘finder.’ When I asked how that could be when I was the finder, I was told by a rather rude and disinterested member of your reception staff that whoever discharged the cat had ‘no way of checking the identity’ of the person who had apparently walked in off the street and said they were the finder. This is an outright lie. Your hospital had two telephone numbers for me, and I’ve spoken to at least five different members of staff over the past week, repeating my mobile number to at least two of them. How did a member of your staff call me on Monday if they had no contact details for me? The person I spoke to on Friday evening (tonight) told me she ‘didn’t know’ what had happened, ‘didn’t know’ where the cat had gone, and ‘didn’t know’ who had discharged her. When I asked why I’d filled in my contact details on the Saturday only for them to apparently hand the stray over to anyone who happened to turn up, she told me that the form I had filled in was ‘just a piece of paper’ and that this did not count as being on the cat’s ‘file’ or ‘chart.’ Have you euthanised this ‘geriatric’ cat, or have you seriously handed her over to somebody without even bothering to check their identity or look back at the contact details of the person who actually brought her in? Are you in the habit of handing animals over to random people with no proof whatsoever that they’re who they say they are? What your staff have told me today just doesn’t add up, and I can only assume you thought nobody would care about this cat because she’s ‘just a stray.’ I did NOT advertise her whereabouts or even her sex on the posters I was told by your staff to put up, I simply said that a tabby had been found and asked anyone who believed it to be their cat to contact me. I already have two cats of my own, and I would absolutely not trust your staff with them now.