Cat, Owner Reunited after Pet Missing for Nearly a Year
March 8, 2010
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Sparky (above) was recently reunited with his owner after missing for nearly one year (below). |
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Microchip ID Helps MSPCA Locate Owner
Sparky was only seven months old when he escaped through an open door as his Lexington owners visited friends in Boston last Spring. It would be nearly an entire year before they were reunited thanks to an up-to-date HomeAgain® microchip registration and an MSPCA adoption center counselor.
Prior to Sparky’s escape he had been neutered and a HomeAgain microchip containing a unique ID number was placed just under his skin. After he ran off, his owners posted flyers and combed the neighborhood hoping to find their lost pet. However, following two months of searching, they hoped that someone had found Sparky and would care for him.
“It was difficult to accept, and it crushed my daughter’s heart, but we hoped Sparky was safe and comfortable in someone’s home,” said Sparky’s owner. “We then decided that we would help another homeless animal. We adopted a second cat and had him neutered and microchipped as well. We never expected to see Sparky again.”
During the winter months of 2010, Sparky’s owners began receiving email reminders to update his microchip ID since it would soon expire. It was during this time that Sparky’s owner saw a familiar face in the Boston neighborhood where the cat had gone missing. However, this cat was missing a significant portion of his tail, so the owner pushed aside any final hope of seeing the missing Sparky.
Several weeks later on February 28, a cat was discovered in a foreclosed Boston property and brought to the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center in Jamaica Plain. Following protocol, an MSPCA adoption center counselor scanned the incoming, abandoned cat for a microchip ID and discovered that the feline was once owned. Since the microchip ID remained up-to-date, it was then only a matter of making a quick phone call to HomeAgain that started the ball rolling on reuniting Sparky with his owners.
Nearly one year later, Sparky is now back at home playing with a new feline friend and the dog that had kept him company when he was a kitten.
“It is wonderful to have Sparky back in our lives,” said his owner. “The only difference is that he is missing a portion of his tail.”
“Microchip IDs are crucial when helping us reunite a pet with their owner,” said Meagan Rock, Director of the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center in Boston. “However, it is vital that the identification information is updated regularly.”
In a 2001 study performed by the MPSCA and Dorr Research Corp. it was discovered that approximately 3 percent of stray cats that end up in shelters and adoption centers in Massachusetts are reclaimed by their owners. To learn more about posting information about a lost or found pet, visit www.mspca.org/lostandfound.
