Police officer reprimanded for destroying documents on wandering cat in Hyogo

Wednesday 07th October, 09:05 AM JST

HYOGO —

An officer at a police station in Hyogo Prefecture was reprimanded by his superiors earlier this year for instructing officers to dispose of a document relating to a cat handed in at a police box, it was learned Tuesday.

A 9-year-old boy found a cat on a street on April 8 and took it to a police box, where it was kept briefly before officers were instructed to let it go, and to dispose of the documentation. The owner of the cat filed a report with police the next day concerning the missing pet, and the owner became distressed after learning that the police had let it go. Police made a poster appealing for information on the missing cat, but it was never found.

The officer said he thought the cat would end up being put down in an animal shelter, and instructed the officers at the police box to return it to the area where it was found, as the cat would likely return to its owner’s home. The officer’s superiors said that while his gesture was one of kindness, destroying official documents was not acceptable, and the officer was reprimanded.

If the owner’s name is on the animal’s collar or the owner can otherwise be identified, police are required to hold it for three months, as with other possessions handed in. The cat in this case was wearing a collar but the owner could not be identified, police said.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 24 Total Comments Show All

NeoJamal at 11:04 AM JST - 7th October

So what's the point of this article? is it implying that the police officer could've reunited the cat with its owner while following procedure?
Osakadaz at 11:55 AM JST - 7th October

reminds me of when I found a sick pigeon on the steps of my apartment that couldn't fly and was defecating copiously everywhere.I called the Nishinomiya Police to ask what should be done with it (this was during the time of Avian flu) and they said 'pick it up and chuck it in the gomi'..so I said 'but it is alive?' and they said..'chuck it in the gomi'...so yeah, this response by the po-lice doesn't surprise.
GW at 01:02 PM JST - 7th October

daft cops, this summer I almost hit a dog that ran in front of my car, was behaving weird(turned out he was deaf) almost got hit twice more right in front of me so we scooped him up & took him home, had a collar but no id........

made a poster went to the train stn but they wudnt let me out it up, had to get permission from city hall, went to the koban abiut 5times never anybody home, when I was out walking my dog & our new friend the owners who were driving round the rice fields looking found us so it was a happay ending about 5days after I took him home, but what a chore trying to get word out.

Told the owners to put at least a name/number on the collar then it wud be easy to make contact, but a week later when I went to their house to give htem pictures of their pooch they still hadnt put a tag on the collar.

Sorry for rambling but most dogs/cats etc have horrible lives in this country, few register pets, few get their shots, few owners give a damn
cleo at 01:11 PM JST - 7th October

timorborder -

Nothing and no one will ever replace the Dobie. Not even another Dobie.:-(

We adopted a 3-month-old Shiba-ken from a lady who was trying and failing to cope with a job, a sick elderly mother, a toddler and the pup. I'm glad she put him up for adoption instead of just dumping him at the pound, like so many do.

It amazes me how much money some people are prepared to spend on fancy collars and ID tags that can so easily come off, not to mention doggie clothes that serve no purpose whatsoever, but won't fork out a few thousand for a microchip that might save their animal from a slow, agonising and gruesome death in a CO2 chamber. Or even, apparently, get one for free.

neojamal -

So what's the point of this article? is it implying that the police officer could've reunited the cat with its owner while following procedure?

The point of the article is that documentation must always be prepared fully, in triplicate, so that it can be filed away for ever and gather dust, and once filed must never, ever be destroyed.

It might have been best for the officer to hand the cat over to an adoption agency (there are plenty of them around) but letting it go was definitely preferable to sending it to senseless and horrible 'disposal' at the local pound. Documentation or no documentation. He could have just said the cat escaped.
dolphingirl at 01:23 PM JST - 7th October

Poor homeless kitty.
unrested at 01:34 PM JST - 7th October

whoa intense police drama! definitely needs to be lifted to the script writers of law and order. damn, to be a police officer in japan. when do they ever get a rest from the excitement!?
Disillusioned at 01:34 PM JST - 7th October

Hilarious! So the J-cops are responsible for stray cats too? Extremely amusing!
tapetptape at 02:27 PM JST - 7th October

Pretty sad and not so surprising with J-Cops....but you do have this foundation which is trying hard with little support: Ark Bark Animal Refuge Kansai and Kanto- http://www.arkbark.net/e/index.htm
Tosaken at 08:12 PM JST - 7th October

When you are all finished having a go at the Japanese police go back and re-read the story. This particular policeman did what he believed was best for the cat and probably came close to getting it right. Cats wander and normally do just go home. If this policeman had sent it to be destroyed we would all be saying what a heartless rat he was. It had a collar with no identifying details on it, so the real responsibility falls to the owner. As for destroying the paperwork, well, I can see myself doing exactly the same thing. As I am sure most of you would have done if you were being honest rather than having fun attacking the police.
ptolemy at 08:13 PM JST - 7th October

Sorry, can't resist this:

"Car 54, where are you..."
ca1ic0cat at 09:11 PM JST - 7th October

did what he believed was best for the cat

Yeah, but he didn't follow procedure and destroyed documents. You don't destroy paperwork in Japan especially, everybody has to stamp it and then the OLs have to file it. If the cops aren't following procedure it's a problem. And if you worked for me right about now I'd be contemplating a replacement. This is how product recalls occur.

At least they haven't lost the paperwork for the Hawker case. Could you imagine the uproar if that paperwork got shredded?
zaichik at 01:38 PM JST - 8th October

Sorry to hear about your Dobie, Cleo.

It does seem daft that an omawarisan would want potentially to add to the stray cat population....
Ranger_Miffy at 03:19 PM JST - 8th October

I had to pay two-months rent for having a perfectly behaved (always lived in apts) cat. Ouch! Just complaining after having spent the day standing on the taifun befuddled trains.
nandakandamanda at 05:57 PM JST - 8th October

Tosaken, on the button.

Destroying the paperwork was wrong from the authorities' point of view, but it very nearly worked, and I might have done the same thing too. (Unluckily the real owner turned up at the police box and that upset the litterbox.)

The article is probably trying to show an example of yet another policeman not following correct procedure.
bdiego at 07:04 AM JST - 9th October

3 months? Here in the US the human society will keep a cat for 1 week and on to cat heaven it goes.