THE CAT CAME BACK
Feline friend home again
Pet owners Raymond Cooper and David Carpenter spent 29 long days not knowing what had happened to their beloved cat, Harry, after he disappeared from Carpenter’s home in May and then showed up kilometres away in another neighbourhood.
By nature, Harry is an outdoor cat who loves to wander the neighbourhood greeting all the friendly faces who treat him like their own, giving him treats and affection much to Harry’s delight.
“He’s got a fan club,” Carpenter said. “Everyone in the neighbourhood knows and loves him just as much as we do.”
Harry first wandered into the men’s lives in 2014. Cooper and Carpenter tried to locate his owners by placing an ad in the newspaper, advising the SPCA of his arrival and checking him for a microchip, but when no one came forward they knew they couldn’t give him up.
Harry, however, made it very clear from the get-go he likes to be outdoors, even though he never wanders far from home, so it immediately worried the men when Harry disappeared on May 19. Soon the whole neighbourhood was out searching for him.
Carpenter was immediately suspicious Harry had been stolen after a previous confrontation with someone trying to take him from the back alley a week earlier.
“This woman had gotten out of a vehicle and was headed straight for Harry. When she saw me she said, ‘Is this your cat?’ ” Carpenter explained. “When I said, ‘Yes,’ she said she volunteered for the SPCA rounding up stray animals, but when I checked with the SPCA, I was told they don’t do that.”
Harry made it back to Cooper and Carpenter on June 16 thanks to the help of a woman named Kayla, who lives nearly four kilometres away in Mayfair.
According to Carpenter, Kayla had noticed Harry outside her house and decided to bring him inside, give him a bath and checked the lost pets Facebook page to see if anyone was missing a ginger cat.
Carpenter and Cooper can’t say enough good things about Kayla and were more than grateful to her for helping reunite them with their furry friend.
But this wasn’t the first time the men had to deal with issues stemming from Harry’s love for the outdoors.
In the summer of 2017, Carpenter found Harry injured and clinging to life. After rushing him to the vet, they discovered the cat had suffered severe trauma to his stomach.
The vet told the men the injuries didn’t seem to be caused by being hit by a vehicle or an attack by another animal. Both Carpenter and Copper believe he was kicked in the stomach.
SPCA volunteer and public relations co-ordinator Heather Sutherland says letting any animal roam comes with risks, especially with cats who could easily be attacked by dogs or other wildlife. It is also against city bylaws and can come along with a hefty fine if your pet is picked up by animal control.
Cooper knows it’s against the bylaw to let Harry roam, but roaming makes Harry happy and when they tried to keep him inside, Harry was quick to voice his displeasure at the situation by meowing incessantly at the door and not giving it up until he was back outside.
Harry still wanders outside during the day either on his new leash or while being closely monitored. But after his disappearance and a month of heartache until his return, the men want to warn other pet owners to keep a close eye on their pets.
“I don’t think this is the only time something like this has happened,” Cooper said.
“Animals are being taken and it’s not fair because people love their pets like family.”