From Walsall to Yorkshire: Reggie the cat found 160 miles from home
Reggie the cat never ventured more than 100 yards from his backyard.
So when the cat’s owners discovered he was 160 miles away from their home they were more than a little shocked.
The eight-year-old mog somehow made his way from Pelsall, in Walsall, all the way to a Co-op store in Pickering, North Yorkshire.
A microchip injection given to him as a two-year-old saved the day, with scans discovering where the Pemberton family’s pet was.
They have now urged pet owners to ‘paws’ for thought and make sure their animals are all micro-chipped.
The discovery was made after North Yorkshire vets had scanned Reggie for a tracker after he was handed in by a member of the public who had found him.
"We called the 24/7 microchip service just to see if he’d been scanned in anywhere,” said father-of-two James Pemberton.
“He rarely strays any more than 100 yards from our house. We’d spent the whole Saturday scanning the estate and were about to send posters on Sunday. It wasn’t ideal but it was all we had left.
“The lady on the phone confirmed that a cat, with Reggie’s chip number, had already been scanned at a vetson the Saturday at 4pm. It was great news – but then she revealed that this was at Eastgate Vets in Pickering, North Yorkshire. It seemed ridiculous that it could be him.”
Reggie is the proud of Mr Pemberton, his wife Karen and daughters Georgia, aged 10, and Evie, six. Black and white Reggie had ended up at a Co-op in Pickering, where he was tended to by staff before handed over to the vets.
Mr Pemberton added: “We can’t thank the Co Op staff enough for doing that, it would have been easy just to send him on his way but their kindness and care is massively appreciated.” The family set out on a 300-mile round trip to collect Reggie, who is now home safe.
And the family are determined to use the happy ending to advise families to get furry friends chipped.
Mr Pemberton added: “The whole experience has really knocked him about. his behaviour has become very erratic and is visibly shaken by all this.
“We know his journey home was made as comfy as possible but we have no idea about how he got where he did. It cost £20 to have the chip in six years ago. We are unbelievably lucky to have him back and would like to stress how important it is to go through the chipping process.”
There have been stories in the past of pets accidentally jumping onto the back of delivery vans or even travelling long distances after accidentally crawling up into the wheel arches of vehicles.
