Owner of lost trans-Tasman cat located in Hong Kong
A Kiwi tom cat found mangy and flea-ridden in Brisbane now has another international connection to his story. After a desperate search to locate the ginger and white cat's owner, the woman was tracked down in Hong Kong.
Toffee was recently found in Yeronga, a suburb of Brisbane, by a group of students who took him in. Then cat foster carer Eloise Thorpe took on the care of him and began the quest to find his owner.
"He was in pretty poor shape, really flea ridden, a bit thin, his teeth were quite bad," Thorpe said.
The vet discovered Toffee was micro-chipped. As well as containing the cat's name, the chip revealed he was 12 years old, and that his address was in Tauranga - nearly 2500km away. Thorpe called the number for his owners, but it was disconnected as they appeared to have left New Zealand for Australia at some point.
Thorpe then looked up listings in Brisbane with the same surname, but with no luck. After turning to social media, his owner was discovered in Hong Kong. The woman - named May - has responded and is trying to figure out what should be the next move for Toffee, Thorpe said.
"We have found his owner. We're just trying to work out the details of what's happening with him now."
It appeared as if the owner had left Toffee with someone else when she left Brisbane for Hong Kong, although it is not clear how or why he became a stray.
As it was not clear how long Toffee had been on the streets, and what diseases he may have picked up, it wasn't certain he would pass quarantine if he was to travel to Hong Kong to be with his owner, Thorpe said.
However, he should have no problem finding a good home with his recent media coverage.
"We've had a lot of people coming forward wanting to adopt him."
Hero image credit: Facebook / Rescue Cats and Kittens Brisbane
Written by Sam Boyer. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz
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