I feel that. My feral stray came to me when I was living with friends. We had a falling out and they wouldn't let me take her. It was their place, so I had no say. A couple years later I was visiting my favorite local shelter to play with the cats there and I saw her.

I was so mad. She remembered me and it broke my heart that I could not take her with me at that time, as I had maxed out my cat allowance with my landlord. They didn't even have the decency to tell me. Their cats were not there, so I know they just threw her away and I was livid. I guess they at least had the decency to take her to the shelter...