8-year-old cat was picked up by neighbors and refused to return
Animals "picked up" cannot be kept casually
Recently, a video of "the cat that the man had raised for 8 years was picked up by the neighbor and refused to return it" attracted attention.
The video shows a man who claims his long-standing cat was found to have been picked up by a neighbor a month after he went missing, and when he tried to get the cat back, he was sued by his neighbors.
On September 21, the reporter learned from the man involved that with the assistance of the police, the neighbor has returned his cat.
In recent years, as people's love for pets has continued to heat up, a series of disputes related to them have also occurred from time to time.
The reporter checked relevant reports and found that after some passers-by took stray animals home and raised them, they found that the animals may be pets that others have lost or abandoned; there are also stray animals that may be nationally protected animals, which brings many laws to themselves. risk.
In this regard, a number of legal scholars told reporters that picking up a stray pet does not automatically become its new owner. If a stray pet is a lost property, the owner or other rights holders have the right to recover the lost property.
"If the stray animals picked up are national protected animals, they should be handled with care to avoid relevant legal disputes."
party:
Neighbor returns cat with police assistance without paying
A few days ago, a man in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province posted a short video on a social platform, saying that when he was undergoing surgery, the cat he had raised for many years disappeared after opening the window to play in the yard.
While searching, he accidentally learned that the cat was brought home by a neighbor.
By negotiating with the neighbor, the other party said that his child liked his cat and did not want to return it.
If the man insists on returning the cat, he will need to pay nearly 20,000 yuan for the cost of taking care of the cat during this period.
According to the Xiaoxiang Morning News, on September 21, the above-mentioned man involved released a statement on his social platform saying that with the assistance of the police, he had reached an agreement and reconciled with his neighbors, and the neighbors were willing to return the cat without paying any fees.
The previous neighbor's claim of 20,000 yuan was due to a misunderstanding by the man when he communicated with him, and he did not really ask him to pay 20,000 yuan.
The reporter noticed that at present, the man has deleted all the videos related to the cat loss incident.
On the afternoon of September 21, the man told reporters that the cat loss incident was over, and he did not want netizens to continue to pay attention.
By retrieving keywords, the reporter found that it is not new for others to refuse to return pets after they have found them, or even to ask for related expenses.
According to the "Wuhan Evening News" report, the puppy of Mr. Wang, a citizen of Wuhan, ran away from home and was taken in by the neighbor downstairs.
When Mr. Wang wanted to return the dog, the neighbor did not want to return it.
After mediation by relevant departments, Mr. Wang finally took back the puppy on the condition of compensation of more than 5,000 yuan.
Lawyer says:
either pets or wild animals
Don't take it home without permission
Is it reasonable and legal for others to refuse to return pets after they have found them, or even to ask for related expenses?
How is it explained at the legal level?
The lawyer made a relevant interpretation on this.
"First of all, if you pick up a stray pet, you don't necessarily become a new owner, unless the original owner of the stray pet completely abandoned the pet." Lawyer Tan Mintao of Beijing Zhongwen (Xi'an) Law Firm told reporters that for stray pets, people who pick them up should Actively find the owner and take the initiative to return it.
If the owner refuses to return it, the owner can sue the person who found it to return the stray pet on the grounds of "unjust enrichment".
In the case that the owner cannot be found, the person who finds it can fulfill certain management responsibilities, manage and raise stray pets on their behalf.
Lawyer Tan Mintao said that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, the administrator has no statutory or agreed obligation, and if he manages the affairs of others in order to avoid losses to the interests of others, he may request the beneficiary to repay the necessary expenses incurred for the management of affairs; If people suffer losses due to management affairs, they can request the beneficiary to give appropriate compensation. "Therefore, in this incident, the neighbor should take the initiative to return the lost cat, and the owner should also pay certain necessary expenses to the neighbor."
Lawyer Tan Mintao further explained that the expenses paid by the owner to the neighbors are the necessary expenses for management and raising cats, such as cat food expenses.
"But when the neighbor brings the cat home and manages the cat, the management responsibility includes taking certain restraint or management measures for the cat, rather than allowing the cat to damage the furniture at will. If the cat is allowed to damage the furniture, then this furniture loss belongs to Unnecessary losses should not be compensated by the owner." Lawyer Tan Mintao said that for the loss of the neighbor's sofa, if the neighbor can prove that the damage was caused by the cat, the owner can make a certain amount of compensation, but the full amount should not be compensated.
In an interview with the media, Yintong, secretary-general of the Civil Law Research Association of the Sichuan Law Society and associate professor of the Law School of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said that stray pets may be either unowned or lost, and the unowned and lost objects are found. The resulting legal relationship is very different.
If a stray pet is abandoned by its original owner, picking up a stray pet and bringing it home to raise constitutes a "preemption" in civil law; however, if a stray pet is a lost pet by others, the act of picking up a pet will constitute a civil law "preemption". It belongs to the "found and lost" in civil law.
Yintong explained that "pre-occupation" refers to the legal fact of acquiring ownership of an unowned movable property prior to others in the sense of ownership.
Although the Civil Code has no direct provisions on the pre-occupation system, Article 10 of the law stipulates that "civil disputes shall be handled in accordance with the law. If there is no provision in the law, customs may be applied, but public order and good customs must not be violated." "Occupy First" can become the new owner of a pet.
In addition, lawyer Zhao Jianjian, director of Beijing Minzhi Law Firm, also told reporters that no matter it is a stray pet on the roadside or an unseen wild animal, it is not appropriate to bring it home directly. Strayers may carry infectious diseases. Especially stray cats and dogs may carry rabies. Secondly, if the animals are protected by the state, it is illegal to raise them without permission.”
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Luo Mengjie