It’s a story which would break the heart of any pet owner. A due diligence which was not enough, regardless of effort.

Yet the story of the Cabral family and their euthanized cat Ollie (pronounced Oh-Lee) has two very different sides. The story of a family whose indoor/outdoor cat went missing and the story of the Oakdale Animal Shelter and how this was all handled.

First realizing their cat had not been home for a day or two in the beginning of June the Cabral family did what most would have in their position; they began searching their Burchell Hill neighborhood, talking to neighbors and posting to social media.

That was on Friday, June 2. By Saturday, the family acknowledged they had to do more.

“I was in denial. I did not want to make a flyer for Ollie, because then it would become reality that my cat was indeed missing,” mother of three and owner Marissa Cabral said.

Accepting that the cat was missing, Monday morning Cabral called the Oakdale Animal Shelter. Assured by the attendant at the time that a cat fitting the description of hers wasn’t there, Cabral opted to not visit the shelter. Yet convinced he could still be found, she texted a photo of the cat and offered some additional information.

“After my conversation with them on Monday I said I’m going to send you pictures, in case he comes in. So I have the text where I sent them the information,” Cabral said, noting receipt of the information as well as the photo was confirmed with a thumbs up reply.

As days went on and the family continued to hang flyers and search for their cat, they learned the following Wednesday that the cat had been trapped and taken to the shelter by a neighbor the week before. Apparently a neighbor one block over (also a cat owner) was bothered by neighborhood cats eating cat food which was left on the front porch. Owners of their own outdoor cats, both food as well as crates, Cabral said, are left on the porch for their cats.

Solution to the problem, trap the unrecognized cats and release them to Oakdale Animal Shelter.

“This was the only house where he was allowed to go out,” Cabral said of Ollie roaming the neighborhood. Sharing in the 13 years of owning their cat, it was not until moving to Burchell Hill nine years ago that the family felt comfortable allowing him to roam free.

“He was never an outdoor cat until we got here because it was safe and everybody had an outdoor cat,” Cabral stated. “It was safe, everybody here had an outdoor cat.”

Safe until it wasn’t would be the lesson which now cannot be changed by the family, as they continue to struggle with knowing that one potentially simple thing kept Ollie from being treated the same as another trapped cat; a microchip.

Learning from the neighbor that he had indeed trapped and taken her cat there the week before, Cabral called the shelter immediately the following morning, Thursday, June 8.

According to Cabral an attendant by the name of Athena answered the call, sharing that they still had not seen her cat but she was welcome to come down and check. Cabral went down to the shelter. Confused, Cabral requested records of all euthanized animals since June 1 as well as cats which had been released to rescues. No information was shared by the attendant.

Once again feeling defeated and lost, as there was no sign of Ollie in the cat room, Cabral returned home frustrated and confused, as she was reassured by the neighbor that the cat was left there the previous week. Confirming with a store receipt from the day he purchased the trap, May 31, the neighbor himself called the shelter.

Returning to the shelter with family at her side, Cabral was greeted by a locked door to the office.

“The door was locked. This was Thursday around two,” Cabral said, sharing the attendant apologized and explained why the door was locked. “I said, I’m very confused and we need answers. She starts going on and on about the system and honestly, I didn’t care. I had already been there and she had said she hadn’t seen my cat. I just wanted to know, where’s my cat?”

Cabral was then told sadly the cats that were brought in were both put down on Monday. In shock, Cabral questioned … she had called Monday and was told they hadn’t seen the cat.

The Leader contacted Oakdale Animal Shelter for information regarding the Cabral cat. Oakdale Police Lieutenant Andrew Stever was available for questions and offered an explanation as to what transpired.

“If it was her cat that was put down, it’s a terrible, terrible thing,” Stever said. “They kept them for the legal amount of time. One of them was microchipped, the other one wasn’t. The one that was microchipped is still with us.”

“I totally feel for Mrs. Cabral,” he continued. “I wouldn’t want to be in her position. I don’t like that our staff is being blamed for something that they did by the book and they did right.”

When questioned further regarding what the neighbor had confirmed in the trapping and what happened at the shelter, Stever stated, “At this time we can’t confirm or deny that it was her cat. Due to it not being microchipped and due to our staff feeling that the photograph and description that was provided to them by Mrs. Cabral and the gentleman that caught the cat we had at the shelter did not match the cat that we had at the shelter at the time.”

Bewildered by what was transpiring, Cabral called 911.

“I joked at the time; I’m calling the police on the police. This is crazy,” the distraught pet owner shared, noting she felt while she was with her family, in the moment she felt it important to have a third party present as she tried to get answers.

“I didn’t think I would have to do it to people in this position, because this is their job, to protect our animals too,” she continued of calling 911. “Ollie had no chance. He wasn’t given a chance. I want records. When I asked for that they just told me my cat wasn’t put down.”

The cat which was euthanized was marked feral. Oakdale Police Department stands behind the assessment of the Shelter staff and will not confirm with complete certainty that it was the Cabral’s cat, even with recognizing the neighbor’s acknowledgement.

When Stever was posed with the question if perhaps the Shelter was overwhelmed concerning the number of cats in possession, prompting the pressing of a three-day grace period prior to euthanization, it was denied.

“We’re not overwhelmed in any way,” Stever said. “We have a lot of organizations that assist us. ASTRO is one of them, which is a huge partner especially when it comes to cats, because they understand a lot of the community isn’t doing the best things for the feral and stray cat population of Oakdale.”

“A cat that’s marked aggressive is marked as a feral cat. My cat hissed at them,” Cabral shared of her findings that Thursday afternoon. “Now I’m hissing. I’m angry and I’m hissing.”

She also voiced concerns about not getting accurate information.

“But nobody told me,” she said of the previous Monday. “They gave me false hope that my cat was still out there.”

It has since been confirmed that the cat the Cabral’s and the trapper believed to be Ollie was put down on Monday, June 5 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.; Cabral called that morning at 11:08 a.m.

When questioned further on the euthanasia process, Cabral stated she was told it was three business days starting the day following possession. Saturday would have been Day 3 for Ollie. However, when Cabral Googled the shelter hours that previous week Google shows the shelter closed on Saturdays.

When mentioned, the staff shared the City website lists correct hours.

California Corp Code 29502 states: “Business day” are all days other than every Saturday, every Sunday and such other days as are specified or provided for as holidays in the Government Code.”

“I believe those codes don’t say business days they just say days,” Stever said in response to the California Code versus the police department’s euthanasia code. “Our staff works on Saturday and the shelter is open on Saturdays.”

Yet none of this helps the Cabral family.

“None of this is going to bring him back,” Cabral said of sharing the story. “If they just would have told me on Monday, we wouldn’t be talking.”

Following Thursday’s disappointment and sadness the Cabral family became very public. A family which is described by those who know them as respectful, responsible and kind became vocal. Not with a mission of placing shame, but rather to make others aware.

“I want them to be consistent with future cats. Take a picture. If that cat hissed at you, zoom in from far away,” she suggested. “Then say this cat doesn’t have a chip, like the dogs when you post it.”

“I want due diligence. My cat’s not coming back,” Cabral stated. “I chose to believe them when they said, we don’t have your cat. We’ve never seen your cat.”

Now the Cabrals live with their memories and stories. Touching and funny stories of a cat who found its way, as well as its name, into the family because of their youngest daughter Ava.

“That was Ava’s first word. She called everything under the sun Ollie,” Cabral said of her youngest daughter. “She’d point to a plant “Ollie,” she’d point to a person, “Ollie” everything she saw was Ollie.”

A simple trip to Target when Ava was a year old resulted in a pet known now as Ollie. As the family passed a man with a box of kittens outside of the big box store, the youngster pointed in his direction and simply said “Ollie.”

“We got in the car…” Cabral said, choking back the emotion, “and I said we’re getting it.”

With the typical response, her husband quickly declined the idea.

“I said we have to get it. We’re getting that cat,” Cabral said, with the whole family in tears as they recall the moment. “I got out of the car and got the cat and I got back in. I told my husband go get a litter box, go get food and so there he goes.”

From there, Ollie was safe until he wasn’t.

“Baby wanted a cat, the kids wanted a cat,” Cabral chuckled through tears. “We brought him home and we knew his name.”

Losing something so near and dear to them is hard enough, the notion of another family walking this path is even worse for the Cabral family.

“I have nothing to hide. I’m not getting my cat back. I don’t have to be doing any of this, but I’m doing this because if Ollie was the straw that broke the camel’s back then they’re going to hear from me,” Cabral said.

Yet OPD stands firm in the position of spaying/neutering and microchipping animals to help prevent these situations.

“It makes no sense. If you’re going to swear by a microchip, the microchip is failing the cat that is in there right now,” Cabral said of the other cat which was trapped.

“We have pets to have them for their entire life,” she concluded. “These people robbed me of that. They robbed all of us of that. I did not sign up to get a pet for someone else to put it down because it hissed at them.”

Employees of the Oakdale Animal Shelter were not permitted to speak with the Oakdale Leader in regards to the circumstances of the Cabral cat. According to Administrative Sergeant Chelsie Stilwell, overseeing Animal Control, all inquiries were to be deferred to Police Chief Jerry Ramar. The chief did speak with Mrs. Cabral in private, yet was unavailable to speak with The Leader prior to deadline. Lieutenant Andrew Stever spoke on behalf of the department.