A feline who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from his home in the Seattle area 10 years ago will be heading home this coming weekend thanks to a microchip implant.
Sneakers, a long-haired black tabby, was living in Sacramento, Calif., when he was dropped off at the citys animal shelter on April 29 by owners who could no longer care for the cat, according to Sacramento Animal Care Services.
During a routine examination, animal care workers discovered he had been microchipped. But when workers traced the chips serial number, they find Sneakers had actually gone missing in another state 10 years ago.
According to Sacramento animal services spokeswoman Rhea Serran, Sneakers original owner, Allison MacEwan of Seattle, reported the cat missing in 1996, when he was just a year-old kitten.
Door-to-door searches, fliers, even newspaper ads turned up no trace of the cat, so MacEwan and her then-4-year-old daughter eventually gave up hope. But then a few days ago came the phone call from the Sacramento shelter.
MacEwan and her now teenaged daughter are expected to travel to Sacramento this weekend to be reunited with their long-lost pet.
And authorities plan to speak with Sneakers most recent owners to try to find out how the cat made the 600-mile journey south, Serran said.
Posted: May 5, 2006, 5:00 a.m. EST