Cat missing for six months turns up in van bound for island

The cat, which went missing from its home in Buckinghamshire six months ago, appeared to have hitched a ride from Milton Keynes to Poole in an empty van.

Staff from Channel Seaways, part of the Alderney Shipping Group, in Poole, were loading up the vehicle, preparing it to be shipped over to Guernsey, when they saw a pair of big green eyes peeking out at them from under the seat.

Warehouse supervisor Peter Hunter, now known to his colleagues as Pet Detective Pete, called another staff member to help him investigate.

‘He said he had found a cat in the van and I asked “what, a real one?”’ said freight administrator Loren Sandford.

‘We were just about to load the van onto the boat but we couldn’t because there was a live cat in there. I have never seen anything like this before.’

It is believed that the meowing tourist, a blue Burmese korat, had been in the vehicle for about three days when it was found on Monday.

‘The company who dropped the van down were just as shocked as we were to hear about a cat being in the van,’ said Miss Sandford.

Following the discovery of the missing ‘purrson’, another staff member took it to the nearest vet who found that it had been micro-chipped.

‘The vet called the person who was down as the registered owner and it turns out their cat had been missing for the last six months from the Buckinghamshire area. They were delighted with the call and the cat was kept at the vet’s for the evening for a check over and some food and somewhere warm to sleep.’

Had the cat managed to go undetected, its journey to the island would have taken it about 222 miles away from home.

While Channel Seaways does offer a pet transport service for islanders who may have bought an animal from the UK, those pets would be secured in a crate with food and water for their trip.

The cat and its owners were due to be reunited yesterday.