Lost Cat 'P-Diddy' Reunited with Owner
Haddon Township resident Aaron Kuhn found the orange-and-white tabby near his home and sheltered the animal until the owner responded to our announcement on Patch.
Patch readers, you are two-for-two on lost pets in the past few weeks.
On Monday morning, Aaron Kuhn found "a sweet, clearly domesticated cat, very thin and cold, curled in [his] backyard" in Haddon Township.
Kuhn took the animal, who looked to be well worn by the elements, he wrote, to a vet to be checked out and scanned for I.D. He posted an ad on craigslist.org, started making calls to the local animal authorities—shelters, veterinary clinics, police—and finally put up an announcement on Patch.
"He's currently safe, secure, and warm in my house, being fed food and water and napping away," Kuhn wrote. "I can't imagine someone is not looking for this guy."
By Thursday mid-day, Kuhn had found a possible match in Patch user Cindy Stanzilis, who commented on his announcement with a description that fit the bill. Within a matter of hours, owner and pet were reunited.
(Apparently, P-Diddy had disappeared about a month ago during a children's sleepover party.)
"The tale of the number of different ways I attempted to find the owner is even more interesting, plus points to the absolute disorganization of the entire system," Kuhn wrote in an e-mail to Patch.
"I went as far as OPRA Requests for pet license owner information for Orange Male Cats to Haddon Twp., Oaklyn, Collingswood, Audubon, and Haddonfield...and in the end, good ol’ Patch.com," Kuhn wrote.
From an editorial perspective, we're happy to have played a part in getting the little guy home. However, our small contribution doesn't even approach the above-and-beyond humane effort Kuhn applied here.
Well done, Aaron, and thanks again to our readers who shared his note on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
If you're ever missing a pet, you can use the Patch announcements section to let us know. Here's a tutorial.
Sheila Henry
3:23 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
I'd light out during a kid's sleepover too. Poor kitty baby! So glad he's okay and back home and I hope back home keeps him well and at home in the future.
Robb C. Sewell
7:04 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Awesome news!!! Orange kitties are the best. Just don't tell our black and gray kitties that I said that.
Collingswoodnative
8:16 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
From the standpoint of someone (myself) that was a volunteer at a shelter I agree totally with Kuhn that trying to find a lost animal in this area is a complete mess.
Each town contracts with an animal control company. If you live in Collingswood and your animal wonders into Haddon Twp or Oaklyn it could be a different company shelter far away from the area the pet is taken from. I was at a now closed shelter in Pennsauken and they picked up in Medford, Medford Lakes, as well as Pennsauken.
Would like to commend Almost Home for their good work in Collingswood. Don't know what towns they cover and it was a number of years ago I was involved. My reason for leaving was I was badly bitten a couple of times by dogs at the shelter and my wife said "it's me or the stray dogs".
Aaron Kuhn
11:44 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
You absolutely nailed the problem here. There's this mish-mash of different townships contracting out to different animal control services, and then said animal control service companies will end up placing the pets in various locations.
Last time I checked, lost cats don't respect geographical borders. In my case, I live near Newton Lake in Haddon Township but that puts me within a cat's-leap distance to the borders of Oaklyn, Audubon, Collingswood, Haddonfield, and it's not out of the question to think a cat could have traveled from Camden, Pennsauken, Haddon Heights, Barrington, Cherry Hill, etc!
The folks are the shelters were all very caring, good people who went through their books and took a description. But, the problem with the shelters, and townships, and everyone else I called is - no one talks to each other! If you lose a pet you are forced to call around to 15+ different possible places an animal could be reported lost into. In this case, the owner had contacted a shelter I had never even heard of (name escapes me, but it was not on my list).
CCAS has a nice list here that details what shelters service what towns. Per this list, it appears they don't even "cover" Collingswood (case in point! confusion!)
http://www.ccasnj.org/you_can_help/lost_pets.html
Everyone I spoke to was very helpful trying to get the cat home, but the lack of a central reporting database for lost animals in the county boggles my mind.
Jill Warner
4:16 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
yes, Aaron is right
all of these places should put all of the found animals on some central sight
now me I am computer illiterate
but maybe some real animal lover that is computer savvy could develop one, please
Meghan
8:51 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Proves there are good people in the world.
Jill Warner
5:16 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
maybe he can become famous now because that adorable little face could give that grumpy cat online a run for his money LOL
I'm so glad him and his grumpy lil face are home
Aaron Kuhn
11:45 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
Grumpy cat says: I rescued a cat once. It was horrible.
Eileen Boyle
9:15 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
I love this story! What Aaron Kuhn did to help this poor kitty - and ultimately the owner - is a truly wonderful example of determination and kindness! My dogs are all micro-chipped, yet I still worry about what might happen if one got lost. My prayer would be that they'd cross paths with Aaron, or at least someone like him!
Aaron Kuhn
12:28 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
Yep if there's one take away here for anyone reading this:
IF YOU HAVE A CAT/DOG AND IT'S NOT MICROCHIPPED, GO DO IT NOW!