Posted Dec. 30, 2008, 3 a.m. EST
Laura Hawk of Dunedin, Fla., adopted Snowball eight years ago from the SCPA Tampa Bay after seeing the cat on an adoption special on television. Snowball was outfitted with a microchip that identified Hawk as his owner, even after Snowball moved away with a friend of Hawk’s friend, the St. Petersburg Times reports.
On Dec. 9, Hawk received a call from the Michigan Humane Society, telling her that they had recovered Snowball. “I’m very happy he was chipped,” Hawk said. “After all these years, I couldn’t wait to see him again.”
Hawk and her daughter, Marcy, drove to Michigan a few days later to pick up Snowball, who was sick with pneumonia and could not be flown home. Television news crews filmed the reunion at the Michigan Humane Society.
“He just snuggled up and crawled onto our laps,” Hawk said.
Marissa Segundo, spokeswoman for the SPCA Tampa Bay, credits Snowball’s microchip for the happy reunion. “The SPCA was able to reunite 466 pets with their owners last year,” she said. “Many could be attributed to microchips.”