Kitty came back,,18 yrs later
The cat came back – 18 years later
Last Updated Mon, 09 Aug 2004 22:15:08 EDT
WINNIPEG - A Manitoba woman is celebrating the return of her lost cat 18 years after the pet first disappeared.
"It's a miracle. There's no words to describe it," said Leslie Dumas, who had last seen her pet kitty Seagull in 1986. "It's just...I needed him and he needed me."
Seagull had gone missing following a house fire in Selkirk, located about 34 kilometres north of Winnipeg, when the cat was one year old.
"We had a house fire, and we had moved, and somebody let the cats out and both cats went missing," Dumas recalled.
Recently, a dehydrated and malnourished black cat was found wandering around the East Kildonan area of Winnipeg. A stranger brought him to the Winnipeg Humane Society.
The identification tattoo in the cat's ear was still legible enough for the society to find the Dumas family.
Dumas said she was puzzled when her father told her the Winnipeg Humane Society had called, asking her to get in touch with them.
"I phoned them, and they said, 'We have your cat,'" said Dumas, who still lives in Selkirk.
"I said, 'What cat?'"
Dumas said she had to think back almost 20 years to 1986, when she was 22 years old.
"I said to the vet, 'This can't be. He looks like Seagull, but how can this be?' He just said it has to be, because of the tags."
Seagull, who is going on 20, has cataracts and poor vision.
Seagull will be the guest of honour at a benefit for the Winnipeg Humane Society on Friday.
