Keith Hardin’s cat Dolly went missing when their home was broken into and robbed a few months ago. Keith offered a reward and then raised it to $5,000, getting help from a friend and dipping into his 401K. After getting a phone call and handing over the cash this week, he has Dolly back home with him again.
Dolly the exotic shorthair cat was nowhere to be found after Keith Hardin’s apartment in the Greenspoint section of Houston, TX was robbed on New Year’s Eve, and Keith didn’t know whether she’d panicked and run or been taken.
Keith put up flyers appealing for her return and offered a reward. A co-worker, Charles Frey, added to the reward and told KHOU: “One of my cats passed away from lung cancer a little more than a month ago and that motivated me to help Keith try to find his cat.”
In February the reward was at $1,000. By March, with Charles Frey’s contribution and money Keith withdrew from his 401K, the reward reached $5,000.
“She’s just like a child,” Keith said, explaining the reward. “That’s the simplest way I could put it.”
“My mom just thinks I’m absolutely nuts to spend that much money on a cat. She’s not a cat person but I know she would have done it in a heartbeat for her dog.”
Two weeks ago, Keith paid $125 to have the remains of a black cat resembling Dolly cremated after getting a call from someone saying they’d found the deceased animal fitting her description. He says he believed Dolly was gone.
On Sunday, a woman contacted Keith saying she’d found Dolly in a nearby apartment complex. She sent a photo of the cat and Keith reacted with nervous excitement.
“I couldn’t stop shaking,” Hardin told KHOU. “My heart was completely in my throat.”
Keith met the woman in a public place and handed over the cash in exchange for his beloved cat. Dolly was checked by a vet and had a microchip implanted. She is now back home where she belongs.
Whether it was reward of ransom, the money brought Dolly home.
Here is KHOU’s video report on the story:
my Mainecoon went missing a few years ago I think my crazy old neighbor tried to get rid of her and I offered a large reward, people thought I was crazy. She came back 8 weeks later thrashed, I still wonder what happen but at least I got her back, with a huge vet bill and medical problems that were caused by her being abused, I am so happy he got his friend back.