It’s a relatively new thing in the furry-loving do-gooder group to catch stray cats, have them neutered, and release them back in the neighborhood where they were caught. The idea, of course, being to reduce the number of strays by eliminating breeder males.
I suspect that is what happened in this case.
If so, I have very little sympathy for the cat owner. If, indeed this was a pedigree animal that he was renting out for stud, he should have kept it under much better control. If the animal was just roaming around on public property — or private property other than the owners... oh well.
I can’t tell you how many cats i’ve trapped, spay/neutered and put back. I go looking for them and the cops tell me where to look too.