Is ignorance bliss, or, would you want to know?

[Anonymous]

We live in a neighborhood with coyotes and when a neighbor was in a similar situation, they notified the neighbor and asked if they wanted it to be taken for cremation or offered to bury it. They said they would not be able to take or share photos and that they were really sorry. This all happened on a public Nextdoor thread. The owner ended up meeting them for cremation at the vet’s.

Since then there are a lot of threads like that. In the case of road accidents, it seems that the finders just call the dead animal hotline or remove the body themselves, save the collar if there is one, and will say obliquely and politely that they believe the animal died at so-and-so spot and the remains were removed in a respectful way or whatever.

[Anonymous]

You should call the owner and tell them that you found the cat, but you don't recommend they look at it. Say you can bring it to them in a sealed box to bury.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it’s a different cat?

We found an orange cat in our neighborhood, saw a flyer for a missing orange cat, called the number and it was a different cat. A few years later, similar situation with another cat.

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely want to know. But please do not message them to "come and get" this poor cat's body. Bury it, and then tell them you buried it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s a different cat?

We found an orange cat in our neighborhood, saw a flyer for a missing orange cat, called the number and it was a different cat. A few years later, similar situation with another cat.

Unfortunately this happened with a neighbors’ cat but in a different way. Cat disappeared, we all assumed the coyote got it, but the kids put up posters to try to find it. 3 months later someone called with the cat from the photos that had been found at a park 2 miles away. Hooray! The neighborhood celebrates.

The cat got cleaned up and got some medical attention and brought home. The family quickly realized that this was not their cat, was a very different cat, and it was either feral or evil and terrorized them all until they brought it to the humane society.

Moral of the story: a lot of cats look really similar, especially when they’ve been out in the streets for a bit. Don’t assume that it’s that cat.

[Anonymous]

I would want to know.

[Anonymous]

I would want to know.

[Anonymous]

You think it is the same cat just because it is orange? Given that the body is in such bad shape, I would actually think it is very unlikely that you can tell anything about it. Did it have on an identifying collar? Otherwise, I would not bother the neighbors with this likely feral dead cat.

[Anonymous]

I would never tell anyone and move on with my day. Animals die all the time.