For those of you who have followed the tale of Riley - the cat who lives in Rye Harbour village - and my intention to re-home him, I received the following email from the person who led me to believe that Riley had been abandoned and left to his own fate. It has completely taken me aback as it is a complete turnaround from what I had been led to believe. I will be meeting with André on the 14th October to discuss the situation further. It has left me completely deflated, although if the content of the email is true then I have to accept that Riley will be happier in the environment that he knows, roaming as a free spirit. I will still have questions about the permanence of shelter for him when the weather gets colder. The following is the email I received:
Hi Mike, sorry to not have responded sooner, just lots of things to take care of recently.
At the moment I can tell you that Riley is well and he does seem untroubled by his life here. He is fed by the girls at the pub, and I understand he goes home at night for his dinner.
A Hungarian visitor at Harbour Lights mentioned his arrival and gave him milk and I found someone else giving him milk who lives on the other side of the pub. It seems Riley knows his way in through the window and makes himself at home there too with the owners blessing, as he seems to do wherever he goes.
I think he has the same nature as the other tabby Bengali that lived at the back of me, who was in every house and garden in the near locality. He often spent hours here and at my neighbours.
If I thought for a moment anything were untoward, I would be in touch straight away. I can only say he seems well and not at all bothered as he is always relaxed, never nervous or worried.
I don’t actually know the name or the person who owns him, and I feel you would get a negative response, as all the feedback says she doesn’t want to give him away.
I have to remind myself that the lady in question did post a “cat missing” message on the local Rye vets website, but in fact he was at the pub most of the time, where the fresh fish was plentiful.
I certainly would be in tune with you and Ros adopting him if I felt he were in any way at all compromised by his life here, as I know your feelings. As you quite rightly say he is not my responsibility, but several people, including myself, have always looked out for him, ever since he made his presence felt.
My reservations are calculated. If you were to approach the owner with your name and address as a potential home, I am sure you’d get a refusal. Should the hypothetical situation arise that he appeared less well and cared for in the near future, and then as it were, I were to inform you, and he disappeared, it may be obvious what has occurred.
I have purposefully not made myself known to the owner in case Riley ever needed cat-napping at some future point. Also I am concerned now, that I feel I may have painted a bleaker picture than is the reality; he is at the moment doing well roaming around all the loving locals who he treats as a cat stop on his travels.
He does seem such a free spirit, and believe me if I thought there was something wrong I would be in touch immediately. I did initially feel that he needed a home, I feel the reality is that this was the natural conclusion of a cat lover who finds cats on their doorstep, freely feeding, curling up and going to sleep. He just seems at home wherever he finds a cat lover, willing to provide saucers of milk and bowls of food. He does the same here, which is why I wondered if he had a home. The reality is, he does, and just uses it as he pleases.
Obviously it’s not for me to say what you might do to satisfy any inferred concerns. But if you were to meet the owner (sister of owner) she would tell you he comes home every night gets fed and goes off on his rounds again. This is the local feedback. She may even wonder why there should be any concern for him. As I have said already, I have purposely not approached sister of owner, I haven’t tried to find out a name; it’s a small village, news and gossip travels quickly, and I thought it counter productive for any future plans.
I can only repeat that currently Riley is fine, and I am a bit concerned about transmitting what may well be an overreaction about a cat with a roaming spirit to you and Ros.
I am more than happy to have a pint and a chat should you feel you wanted to visit.
Best wishes André
No comments:
Post a Comment