Cat advocates urged officials of a condominium complex to return to them a senior cat they have been taking care of after he disappeared under what they claim were questionable circumstances.
A Cats of BGC (Bonifactio Global City) volunteer on Monday, August 1 called on the public to help them find Vinny, a senior cat that they said “has a limp and a mangled ear.”
The feline also has “trouble meowing.”
Vinny likewise has had “trouble eating” due to gum issues.
The administrator of Instagram page @happy.chapati shared that the feline has been living in the parking lot of Bellagio Tower 1 “for several years” already.
The admin, also Vinny’s caretaker, said they started caring for the senior cat in 2022 but added that the feline is “difficult to catch” as he is “smart, skittish of people he does not know, and suspicious of carriers and nets.”
“He preferred being around his home for several years, hiding under cars. However, due to [the] decline in his health the past few weeks, I was extra determined to bring [him] indoors already,” Vinny’s caretaker added.
However, they discovered that the senior cat was “caught and ‘adopted'” by a guard at the condominium after a resident complained about “some cat food on his Jaguar.”
Jaguar is a luxury car.
Vinny’s caretaker said that this was done without informing them, despite the guards knowing that they, together with the Cats of BGC, are the feline’s primary caretakers.
The caretaker also claimed that the timing of the senior cat’s “adoption” was suspicious since the condominium “had pest control around the area at the same time as when Vinny disappeared.”
“Moreover, I am the only person who he allows to touch him, so it is hard to believe he would go with someone else willingly,” the caretaker said in an Instagram post.
The Cats of BGC also said that it is “illegal” for a pest control company to round up cats. Pest control companies usually deal with getting rid of termites, roaches, rats, and other bugs in homes.
“We hope [the] Bellagio admin will be honest as to where they placed Vinny,” the cat community said.
Vinny’s caretaker also shared updates in the post’s comments section.
They were told by the guard officer-in-charge and the Property Management Office (PMO) that one of the guards had adopted the cat and brought him to Bulacan.
However, the guard cannot send a photo as Vinny allegedly slipped out of the house. They were told that the guard was supposedly looking for the cat.
“Poor Vinny lost in a far, unfamiliar place. They said they would not hurt him as he grew up here, but is that really the level of care deserves??? To lose him barely a couple of days in??? What if I didn’t look for him? They would just let him stay lost?” Vinny’s caretaker in the comments.
In another update, the advocates were told by the building admin that the cat was brought to Manila, contradicting the first claim that the feline was in Bulacan.
“‘Di pa sila gumagawa ng group chat,” Vinny’s caretaker said with an unamused face emoji.
The advocates also urged other people to text the number given to them so the cat could be returned and “let them [the condo personnel] feel that people are watching them so they’ll be forced to take this seriously.”
The number can be seen in their full comments and in another Instagram post.
Vinny’s caretaker continued to post on Instagram Stories, adding that the senior cat was taken by a PMO personnel who they were told was an “animal lover” who pitied the cat since the latter had colds.
“They why not bring him to the vet instead? BSF is literally in front. Bulls*it,” the cat’s caretaker said in an Instagram Story.
BSF refers to Beterinaryo Sa Fort, an animal clinic near the condominium complex.
Vinny’s caretaker also added the hashtag “#NasaanSiVinny” to the IG Story.
Megaworld, the developer of the Bellagio Towers, does not have any comment or a publicly released statement about the matter yet.