By Ethan Benedicto
After being missing for six and a half months, a cat named Garfield was finally returned to his home in Doveton.
The cat was found in Hallam, about five kilometres from his owner Neil Summers’ home.
According to Mr Summers, the man who found the cat scanned Garfield with a chip scanner, and after finding out he belonged to someone, contacted the local vet immediately.
After Garfield initially went missing on April 29, he said he and his family “checked animal shelters and put up about 200 flyers around the streets”.
However, there was no sign of the cat.
“I came home from work and I couldn’t find him, and I kept looking the next few days and I still couldn’t find him,” Mr Summers said
“We put these pamphlets out and we even door-knocked a bit.”
The five-year-old cat was nursed by Mr Summers and his family ever since he was a kitten, and throughout those years, they built the foundations of a strong familial connection.
When Garfield was finally retrieved, it was a big sigh of relief for him and his family.
“I was excited, thankful, I prayed to God that we’d find him and we did,” he said.
It was even more meaningful for his children, who had come to accept Garfield’s passing.
“They just said that he’s died and we won’t see him again, they loved that cat and were very excited when we found him,” Mr Summers said.
As it stands, some new security measures have been employed since the cat’s return.
While Garfield was free to roam the Summers’ home, inside and out, Mr Summers has now been enforcing a stricter curfew.
“I normally work three to ten and let him in when I get back from work,” he said.
“Now we let him out for only a couple of hours and make sure to bring him in before I leave.”
Garfield had no injuries, with Mr Summers assuming that he probably went on an extended vacation, sightseeing from house to house and place to place.
