Emergency injunction filed to stop 'Bob the cat' from going back to Kansas
An emergency injunction has been filed to stop 'Bob the cat' from being sent back to Kansas.
Bob is a 14-year-old tuxedo cat who made headlines the week of Sept. 5 when he was found in Fuquay-Varina after going missing more than a decade ago in Kansas.
Carol Holmes, Bob's original owner, said he disappeared a few months after she got him. A woman named Alex Streight said she found Bob outside in her backyard. After taking him to the vet to check for a microchip, Streight decided to adopt the cat and has cared for Bob for nearly a decade.
Earlier this month, the debate over the cat began: Does he belong to Alex Streight in North Carolina, who took care of him for the last 10 years, or Holmes of Wichita, Kansas?
On Wednesday, Holmes picked up Bob at the Wake County Animal Center to take him back with her to Kansas. That's when Alex Streight filed the motion for an emergency injunction, accusing Holmes of breaking the law and neglecting her pets. The injunction was filed with the state, Wake County Animal Control and Holmes as listed as defendants.
The injunction said there's a "multitude of substantial evidence that Ms. Holmes has previously neglected pets."
Bob has FIV, and the injunction points out that it's illegal in the state of Kansas to transport a symptomatic cat. It's also illegal to voluntarily infect other cats, and Holmes allegedly has other cats in her home.
"The FIV-positive cat would infect between four to at least seven inside cats of the defendant," the injunction said.
The injunction said the cat will "most likely be euthanized in Kansas due to an open investigation of Ms. Holmes knowingly attempting to break Kansas law."
Timeline of the battle for Bob
2013: Holmes adopts Bob. After a few months, Bob goes missing from his Kansas home.
2014: Streight finds Bob. She takes him to the veterinarian who said he did not have a microchip. She tries to find his owner but has no luck and ends up adopting Bob.
2015: Streight moves with her family and Bob from Kansas to North Carolina.
August 2023: Bob has lived with Streight for nearly a decade. The cat is wandering the neighborhood when a neighbor finds him. The neighbor takes him to the vet who finds a microchip registered to Holmes. The battle begins to decide who legally owns Bob.
September 2023: The Wake County Animal Center decides Bob will be sent back to Kansas to live with Holmes. Streight files an emergency injunction to stop Bob from being sent to Kansas.
