North Carolina: Amanda VanDamme, accused of stealing cat from Humane Society, denies wrongdoing

NORTH CAROLINA -- Officials with the Humane Society of Livingston County are asking the prosecutor’s office to consider charges against a woman who they allege “stole” a cat from the nonprofit agency.

The woman, Amanda VanDamme, admitted taking the cat, which she said belonged to her, but had been given to the Humane Society in Genoa Township by an acquaintance who was cat-sitting. She said she took her cat, Nala, only after the Humane Society staff refused to give the animal back.

“You can’t steal what belongs to you,” VanDamme said.

Humane Society Director Debi Drick does not agree with VanDamme’s perspective and said she will seek charges against VanDamme.

“I’m not looking for blood, but I can’t condone someone walking in and taking a cat,” Drick said.

Abandoned cat?
The situation arguably began in May, VanDamme said, when she asked an acquaintance to watch her cat while she moved. VanDamme said the cat sitter indicated that Nala wasn’t getting along with the three cats at her home and she would take Nala to the Humane Society. VanDamme said she made arrangements with the cat sitter to pick up Nala in June, but her cat had already been given to the Humane Society.

VanDamme said her boyfriend tried to retrieve the cat from the Humane Society, but staff told her that the cat was not there and that it likely “was given away to a random woman in the parking lot.”

Drick said an unidentified man did come asking about a cat matching Nala’s description. However, he was “screaming at us it’s his ‘(expletive) cat,’ and the (expletive) is every other word.”

Drick said the man claimed he made $2,000 per kitten from Nala, who is a “unique cat,” but the man could not provide any proof of the cat’s lineage or ownership.

“You don’t make that kind of money off a cat unless you have papers,” she said. “We’re not in the business of taking animals, of keeping people’s animals. We try to reunite people with cats, but we aren’t just going to give him a cat.”

Drick said the staff offered to try to work it out with the man, but he refused to leave identifying information such as his name. She said a woman also called, but staff received no return response from the woman — presumably VanDamme.

Drick said the woman who turned the cat in said it had been “abandoned” after repeated attempts to contact the owner — whom Drick said she did not know by name — to retrieve the cat.

Drick said Humane Society staff waited at least 10 days. When the alleged owners failed to provide proper proof of ownership, the cat was fixed and placed for adoption.

VanDamme said she repeatedly tried to confirm the Humane Society had Nala, but everyone, including “maybe the Drick woman,” denied the cat was there.

“I wasn’t sure if (the acquaintance) was lying or the Humane Society was lying,” VanDamme said.

The acquaintance, Katie Pardo, initially told the Livingston Daily that “the Humane Society didn’t say anything to me” when she dropped off Nala. However, she later returned a message saying VanDamme has threatened to sue her, and she referred further inquiries to her attorney.

A person posting under Pardo’s boyfriend’s name on Facebook, wrote that they had Nala for more than two months and that VanDamme failed to get the cat, who was tormenting his own pets. The posting also noted that Nala was not properly immunized, which put his cats at risk.

VanDamme said she did not want Nala fixed because she planned to breed the cat and she does not believe in vaccines, which meant VanDamme had no veterinary records to prove she owned the cat.

VanDamme said she believes Pardo took Nala to the Humane Society because she knew the organization would spay the cat.

Cat-napping
VanDamme said that Pardo sent her a message July 2 that the Humane Society had posted Nala’s photograph on its website and that Nala was available for adoption.

“I dropped everything to see if she was really there,” VanDamme said. “She was in a small cage and she dropped down to see me. I picked her up and, out of emotion, I walked right out.”

VanDamme said Nala was excited to be home, but two days later a Livingston County sheriff’s deputy knocked on her door asking for Nala’s return.

“From the point she came in and stole the cat, game over,” Drick said. “No. No. No. If she had legal authority or a legitimate claim to the cat, she could have come to the counter. But when you come in, walk to the back room and steal an animal, there’s nothing else to work out. It’s over.”

Drick said the cat has since been adopted. She declined to say by whom, citing confidentiality policies.

Drick said she believes VanDamme may have come in at a time that was “very busy” when groups of three or four people were looking at the available animals. She said it’s possible that VanDamme went back with a group without notice and then slid out a side door.

Since the incident, Drick said, the Humane Society has changed its policy to limit the number of people who view animals and no longer leaves the side door unlocked.

“We will not reunite an animal with someone who can’t show they own the animal,” Drick said. “This woman is screaming we’re trying to make money for it. Just so it’s known, when we take in a stray, we lose money and that’s OK because it’s our mission to help the animals.”

VanDamme said she hopes whoever has Nala will return her. In the meantime, she’s taken to social media to rally her cause.

VanDamme has started a petition on PetitionBuzz.com and is seeking donations on YouCaring.com to “help take the Livingston Humane Society to court.”

“I hope I can find her and get her back,” VanDamme said.

(WCNC NBC Charlotte - July 20, 2016)