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Cat lost on the other side of the Island shows up in Nanaimo, gets reunited with owner

Hobbes brought to Nanaimo SPCA months after running away near Vancouver Island’s west coast
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After being lost near Vancouver Island’s west coast close to four months ago, Hobbes the cat was reunited with his owner this past weekend at the B.C. SPCA branch in Nanaimo. (Nanaimo SPCA photo)

A lost cat from Victoria was reunited with its owner in Nanaimo after an absence of close to four months and a long journey.

Kevanna Mirau, animal care attendant with the Nanaimo and District B.C. SPCA, said a cat named Hobbes was brought in as a stray into the Nanaimo community animal centre on Saturday, Oct. 29 after wandering into a house in Nanaimo.

“The finder noticed he was a little bit on the skinny side … she did the right thing by bringing him into us, here at the SPCA,” said Mirau. “Every time an animal comes into our care, we do intake on them. We always scan for a microchip and check for a tattoo, so we [did] and he had one.”

After tracing, the owner was found in the computer system and he was contacted.

“He ended up calling back the next morning and we chatted and indeed found out that it was his cat, so he made the trip here from Victoria,” said Mirau. “He was here probably within two hours … we brought him in to see his cat and there was Hobbes.”

The cat was lost at a boat launch at Kennedy Lake near the Island’s west coast in June after being scared by a dog, and could not be located despite a week-long search by the owner.

Wendy Kotorynski, Nanaimo B.C. SPCA senior manager, said this is a good example of the benefits of registering pets.

“Right now over one million pets get lost in Canada ever year,” she said. “Registering your pet with the B.C. Pet Registry – getting the microchip either at vet clinics or the microchip clinics that the SPCA sometimes does – is really important because you can take your pet to the SPCA or vet and can be reunited very fast with it.”

Kotorynski is curious as to how the cat managed to make it to Nanaimo.

“We’re thrilled with this happy ending and if Hobbes the cat could talk, we would love to know how he got from Kennedy Lake and what happened in between…” she said. “We would love to know his story.”

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reporter@nanaimobulletin.com

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Karl Yu

About the Author: Karl Yu

After interning at Vancouver Metro free daily newspaper, I joined Black Press in 2010.
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