Animal Humane New Mexico shared Jessie Adkins’ photo and thank you message at their Facebook page on Friday. Jessie’s cat Ripley came in for a microchipping clinic that morning and, two years after she’d gone missing, was reunited with Jessie that same day.
Albuquerque resident Jessi Adkins adopted Ripley eight years ago, and the cat was her companion after she moved out on her own for the first time. Two years ago, Ripley got out the door and disappeared. Jessie and her husband plastered the neighborhood with flyers, regularly visited pet locator websites, and checked with both Animal Welfare and Animal Humane New Mexico, all to no avail.
It turns out that a good Samaritan took Ripley in as a stray two years ago, thinking she needed a home, and has been caring for her ever since. The man took Ripley to be microchipped at a vaccination clinic at Animal Humane New Mexico on Friday morning, where Ripley’s identity came to light when she was found to already have a chip. The man was gracious about giving the cat up so she could be returned to her previous guardian.
Jessi Adkins was ecstatic at the news that Ripley had been located and would be returned to her family. Talking about the moment when she got the news, Jessi said, “The woman on the phone says, ‘Is this Jessi?’ I said, yeah. She said, ‘Did you adopt a cat named Ripley back about eight years ago?’ And my breath caught in my throat.”
Dawn Glass with Animal Humane New Mexico took the opportunity to stress both the importance of microchipping our pets and the importance of getting microchip scans done on animals found as strays.
Ripley’s is one of many cases coming to light where years go by before an animal being kept by someone is scanned and their chip leads back to their original family, who tried in vain to find them when they disappeared.
.
