After a 21-day search, Abbie the cat has been safely found, thanks to the unwavering dedication of pet rescuer Kirsten Chapman. The ordeal began when Janet Evans and her husband, while relocating from Shelter Cove to Delaware, decided to make the cross-country journey in a motorhome to reduce stress on their cats.
During the drive from Shelter Cove to Highway 101, the couple stopped to tidy up the motorhome and adjust their cats’ carriers after a bumpy ride. With all doors closed, they let the cats out while arranging the carriers. However, one of their cats, Abbie, managed to lower the automatic window and escape before they noticed. “She must have stepped on the button,” Jan explained. “She got out, and she took off, and we couldn’t find her.”
Despite an extensive search, Abbie’s owners had to continue their journey, leaving their beloved pet behind. “It was so hard to drive away without her,” said Jan. “I spent so much time crying in that motorhome, worrying about her and wondering what had happened.”
News of Abbie’s disappearance spread through a Facebook post shared by a friend, which reached Kirsten Chapman in Redding, nearly four hours away from where Abbie went missing. Chapman, a dedicated rescuer of lost pets, particularly those displaced by natural disasters, immediately felt compelled to help. “When I saw the post, it broke my heart, and I had to go get her,” Chapman told Redheaded Blackbelt in a phone interview.
Chapman teamed up with local volunteers Karen Foster and Mary Ellen McKee, who had been searching for Abbie for over a week. Together, they used remote cameras and traps to monitor the area where Abbie was last seen. Despite heavy rain, freezing temperatures, and challenging terrain, Chapman persevered.
As winter storms battered the region, Jan’s worries for Abbie intensified. “I was so afraid it wasn’t going to end well,” said Jan, explaining that Abbie and the other cats are usually kept indoors except for time spent on an enclosed deck. But thanks to the efforts of Kirsten, Karen, and Mary Ellen, Abbie’s wild adventure had a happy ending.
“She showed up just in time for Christmas dinner,” Chapman recalled. “We had started to wonder because we hadn’t seen her for a few days, but then she appeared on camera again. When I saw the temperature was about to drop, I knew I had to act fast.”
After three weeks of patience and persistence, Chapman successfully trapped Abbie and immediately contacted Jan in Delaware with the good news. Overjoyed, Jan expressed her deep gratitude in a phone interview: “We’re so happy to have her back. Kirsten has done an amazing job.”
Abbie will now visit the vet for a checkup and cleaning before being reunited with her thrilled owners, who will be flying from Delaware to Redding to bring their beloved cat home.
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