Her name is Daisy, a 2-year old short-haired tabby weighing 10 pounds (see photo).
Her owner says she slipped out of her house on Mercer Street in Jersey City late Thursday night, leading to a chain of events that have some wondering if she was dumped by city personnel in a park.
According to owner Morgan Metius, Daisy ran out of the house around midnight, but Metius did not know the cat was missing until Friday morning.
Metius’ aunt, who lives on another floor of the house, saw a Jersey City Animal Control officer enter her next door neighbor’s house and leave later with an animal in a portable cage.
Thus, Metius called the Animal Control office on Friday to find out if they had a cat fitting Daisy’s description.
However, Metius claims that an employee told her that animal control does not pick up cats.
Metius says she persisted, based on the information from her aunt about the neighbor’s house.
Later that day, she was actually able to speak to the officer who took the cat out of her neighbor’s house.
That’s when — according to Metius — the officer told Metius that the cat was not taken to the Liberty Animal Shelter, where stray animals found in Jersey City are supposed to be brought, but Daisy was brought to an obscure area of Lincoln Park and let out because the cat had been hostile to the officer.
Metius checked the Liberty Animal Shelter and was told that no cat looking like Daisy was brought there.
“I find it unbelivable that they did something like this,” Metius said this weekend. “And what’s worse, the officer said he has been doing this for years.”
Metius said she and her boyfriend have visited Lincoln Park this weekend to try to catch Daisy. She also said that during the search, her boyfriend saw another animal control officer allegedly let loose a cat in the area where they were searching.
Incredibly, that cat, a black-and-white, was brought to Metius Saturday morning by head Animal Control Officer Joe Frank as her missing Daisy — but Metius told him it was a different cat.
On Saturday, Frank told the Jersey City Reporter that the cat he brought to Metius was confirmed to him as the cat retreived from Metius’ neighbor’s house, and had been trapped in Lincoln Park by Animal Control. He also said Metius’ cat may still be in the Mercer Street area.
Frank also said he is investigating the officer’s activity on Friday, and that actions such as suspension would be taken against the officer if it turned out a cat was dumped in Lincoln Park. He also said releasing cats in Lincoln Park is not the correct policy, and that it is first time he has heard about the alleged dumping of cats in the park by Animal Control.
If you have seen Daisy, particularly in the Mercer Street area or in Lincoln Park, please call (646) 644-9701. -Ricardo Kaulessar