Q: Can I be sued for rehoming "emotional support" animals (cats)?

A: This is a difficult question. First, only dogs and miniature horses can be service animals as defined by the ADA. Second, service animals are not “registered” anywhere. Despite the many websites that claim to register service or “emotional support” animals, these websites do nothing more than take peoples’ money and send them gear and certificates for their animals. But there is no national registry under the Americans with Disabilities Act. So, whether these animals are registered or not is irrelevant. Third, regardless of the animals’ supposed status, because she is the owner and she has not relinquished ownership to you, she can sue you in replevin or conversion for damages or for the actual animals back. Whether or not she would win is another question. Because animals are property, they are not considered “abandoned” until 5 years have passed, thereby relinquishing ownership to another person. Animals can be abandoned or surrendered to a shelter and ownership severed within 5 days if the owner does not come to claim them, but since you know who the owner is and that person is not you, the shelter would not be able to take them from you, only this other person.

So, given the difficulty of your situation, it would be in your best interest to meet with an experienced animal attorney to go over your possible options.

A: In my opinion, if you were to bring them to your local animal shelter and tell them the story, and that she basically has abandoned them to your care, you should be able to have them take them and they can contact her and give her 5 days to reclaim them. The bad thing about doing this is that cats and kittens are the number one killed animal in shelters, so they may not make it out alive. Perhaps you should call the shelter, discuss the situation and if they will take them, give her a deadline of when she has to pick them up before you will bring them to the shelter.