By Lisa Maria Garza
This is a story about a capricious cat named Harvey. Not just any wayward feline, mind you, but a Tabby who wandered 800 miles from Denver to Dallas, took a side trip into a 25-foot (7.6 m) pit and is actually going home after about nine months on the road.
The 5-year-old orange cat, who went missing last June from his Colorado home, narrowly escaped being cemented into the hole when a utility worker spotted him and called Dallas Animal Services. Harvey’s family was identified through a microchip under his skin.
After a six-hour rescue, Harvey was caked in mud but uninjured, animal services spokeswoman Gabrielle Vannini said.
How Harvey ended up in Dallas is anyone’s guess and he’s not saying.
Vannini speculated that he may have hitched a ride or walked all the way to the affluent Highland Park neighborhood in central Dallas.
“With that amount of time, it’s not totally impossible he’s just been roaming but given how far he was from home, it’s likely he had some help getting down here,” she said.
Harvey’s owner Jackie Ewer told TV broadcaster Denver7 that the Tabby has always been an outdoor cat and she was surprised he was found in Texas.
“If any cat would have some crazy adventure, it would be Harvey. He’s very funny,” Ewer said.
A cat that went missing in California 2-½ years ago has shown up many miles away in Canada.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that BooBoo the cat went missing in August 2014 in Watsonville, California. Last week, the tabby showed up in southeastern Canada, about 3,000 miles (4827.81 kilometers) from home.
When BooBoo arrived at Guelph Humane Society in Ontario, she hardly looked like a grizzled traveler.
Humane society Executive Director Adrienne McBride says BooBoo is in “fantastic shape.” In fact, she might need to go on a diet when she gets home. How did BooBoo reach Canada? Owner Ashley Aleman suspects BooBoo hitched a ride as she has a habit of jumping in cars. The cat was identified by a microchip.
Animal protection officers will carry the cat across the border Friday.
NEW YORK, NY:
The ASPCA(r) (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(r)) released national shelter estimates showing dramatic decreases in shelter intake and euthanasia of homeless dogs and cats.
The ASPCA reports that an estimated 1.5 million companion animals are euthanized in US animal shelters nationwide every year, a decrease from about 2.6 million estimated in 2011. Contributing to this reduction is an 18.5 percent increase in national adoptions. An estimated 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats), up from 2.7 million adoptions in 2011. (Agencies)