An 18-year-old cat named Milo was reunited with his family this week after he was found more than 100 miles from the Scranton home he escaped eight years ago.A microchip implanted in the black-and-white shorthaired male cat helped his rescuers find his family, who now live in New Jersey.Milo escaped after repairmen left the back door open at his owner’s former Hill Section home. Eight years later, someone found him this week roaming the streets of Montgomery County, said Tracie Graham, Perkiomenville shelter manager.How the cat got to Montgomery County — just north of Philadelphia — is a mystery. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals scanned Milo and found his chip.Owner Lorelei Vak, who declined to comment, had not kept up the chip’s registration. So Ms. Graham went on an investigative journey that led her to the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter in South Abington Twp.The shelter found Milo’s records, which showed who adopted him. Ms. Graham tracked down Ms. Vak through Internet searches but could not find a phone number. She contacted local law enforcement, who reached Ms. Vak’s daughter, Melissa Vak, who lives in Montgomery County. She led them to her mother in New Jersey.The shelter also found out that Milo, who was adopted at 5 months old in Tobyhanna, lived in Scranton with Ms. Vak’s son, said Ms. Graham.When animals come into Griffin Pond, they are scanned for a chip, said Griffin Pond Humane Officer Sandy Scala. The chip, which is the size of a grain of rice, is injected under the animal’s skin, usually between its shoulder blades.The scan provides an identification number that can traced back to the chip’s company. Owners should register their pet’s name, address and phone number with the company, said Ms. Scala, noting that most of the time, pets are reunited with their families.Contact the writer:kbolus@timesshamrock.com, @kbolusTT on Twitter
Source: Lost cat found, eight years later than expected – News – The Times-Tribune
