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| Heathcliff, an orange tabby cat like the one shown here, traveled nearly 700 miles. |
Three weeks ago, Heathcliff the orange tabby cat ran away from his Sicklerville, N.J., home where he lived with Krystyn O’Donnell. The cat’s wanderlust led him to the doorstep of Gertha Mathis in an Atlanta, Ga., suburb. His journey took him nearly 700 miles, NBC10 News of South New Jersey reports.
Mathis was startled to find the orange tabby outside her home, but was even more surprised when she learned just how far he had traveled to end up in her yard. Mathis and her husband took Heathcliff to an animal shelter in Lawrenceville, Ga., where shelter workers routinely scanned him for microchip identification. When the scanner picked up a microchip, the shelter staff learned that Heathcliff belonged to O’Donnell.
Luckily, O’Donnell had the microchip implanted under Heathcliff’s skin when she adopted him from the Cumberland County SPCA. The shelter has been implanting the devices in each adopted pet for a little over a year, according to shelter employee Stacie Toppin.
Now, O’Donnell is working to find a way to bring Heathcliff home. Mathis is glad that the cat will be reunited with his owner.