Cat missing 8 years to be returned to Fla. owner

By JUSTIN DENNIS

jdennis@vindy.com

CANFIELD

The Tampa, Fla., woman separated from her big-eyed, black-and-gray snowshoe cat probably thought she’d never see her again – let alone after eight years and six states away.

But Barley is alive and well at Angels for Animals in Canfield, said Sherry Bankey, the shelter’s cat-wing manager, who’s arranging to send the cat back to her grateful owner today.

Someone delivered Barley to the shelter last week after finding the stray in their Wilmington Township, Pa., garage, Bankey said. But the cat’s microchip registration returned a Florida address.

“When I sent them the text and I said, ‘I think we have your cat,’ she said, ‘We haven’t had a cat for a really long time,’” Bankey said. “I sent them the picture and it was instant – ‘That’s my cat!’”

The owner rescued Barley from a dumpster at just

6 weeks old, Bankey said.

“The cat loved to cuddle and sleep up on her chest and around her neck,” she said.

When Barley escaped during a move eight years ago, “they were heartbroken,” Bankey said.

The owner has no family or friends in Ohio and has never been to the state, Bankey said. Barley’s owner could not be reached to comment Thursday.

A Wednesday post on the shelter’s Facebook page seeking volunteers to transport Barley was viewed more than 80,000 times around the country and shared nearly 1,800 times by Thursday evening, Bankey said.

“A lot of people stepped up and said they’re willing to drive her,” she said. “The response has been fantastic.”

Bankey said a volunteer could meet with shelter workers and receive Barley today.

So where was Barley all this time? Angels for Animals Director Diane Less said her best guess is a “snowbird” who visited Florida picked up the lost cat and brought her back to the area – then lost her again.

She said Barley’s tale is a “great testament” to the pet microchipping system.

“So many animals are probably destroyed because shelters don’t think they’re adoptable when a lot of them are owned pets that can’t deal with what’s going on,” she said.