Cape Cod family reunited with cat missing for SEVEN years, thanks to microchip

Rebecca Collins West of Dennis, Massachusetts, was shocked when a local shelter called and told her that her cat, Tigger, was still alive

A Massachusetts woman was reunited with her cat after seven years thanks to the microchip she had planted in him. 

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (MSPCA)  in Cape Cod immediately scanned Tigger’s microchip when he arrived in their shelter on July 31.  

Finding a number listed for the chip, MSPCA called the cats owner.

‘The owner was over the moon. She never imagined that she’d get her cat back,’ MSPCA Cape Cod spokesman Rob Halpin explained to the Boston Globe.

The shelter shared on Facebook that the owner – 47-year-old Rebecca Collins West of Dennis, Massachusetts – quickly came to retrieve her cat, a few hours after she had gotten the call.

‘My family got to the point where they would be like, “You poor thing, he got eaten by a coyote — you can get over it now,”‘ she explained to Boston.com. ‘And so when the phone call came, I look at my husband and I say, “I told you so!” We listened to the message three times to make sure it was true.’

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (MSPCA) in Cape Cod received the cat and scanned its microchip

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (MSPCA) in Cape Cod received the cat and scanned its microchip

An animal control officer from Mashpee had dropped the cat off at the shelter. Tigger had been rescued – along with other animals – from a home in the area where the owner had to be moved to a treatment center. 

It is unknown how long Tigger had been living at the Mashpee home or what he had been doing prior.

Microchips with pet owner’s information can be injected into cats or dogs so that they can be reunited in the event that a separation occurs. 

When the phone call came, I look at my husband and I say, "I told you so!" We listened to the message three times to make sure it was true,' said West

When the phone call came, I look at my husband and I say, “I told you so!” We listened to the message three times to make sure it was true,’ said West

‘It’s always pretty exciting when an animal gets reunited with their owner,’ Halpin said. ‘It’s not very often when animal shelter folks get to feel like true heroes, even though they are.’ 

The cat – now eight – was said to have been skinnier than when he first ran out of an open door, seven years ago. 

‘There was a lot of celebration at the MSCPA,’ Haplin said. 

West added: ‘He absolutely recognized me. He wouldn’t eat or drink at the shelter, but, as soon as I got him home, he just dove right in. We always called him our little dog anyway. He’s just the sweetest thing.’   



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk