Missing cat: Kilsyth feline Armani believed stolen after found in Coldstream
Pet owners are urged to be vigilant after a family believes their cat was stolen and dumped a long way from home. And they think it’s happening across the outer east. Watch the video of their heartwarming reunion.
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A Kilsyth mum is urging pet owners to be vigilant after her son’s cat Armani was found almost 20km from home in Coldstream in a stranger’s front garden.
Chantelle Maxfield who believes her eight-year-old son Levi’s cat was stolen from their driveway and dumped – unharmed – in the Yarra Valley, is warning others to be careful with their beloved fur babies.
Ms Maxfield said Armani went missing around the same time a 4WD was heard pulling up late at night on Saturday, July 11.
“I heard a very loud 4x4 sounding car pull up at my driveway in our very quiet court for a few minutes,” she said.
“The car remained running the whole time and after a few minutes I heard the door slam and the loud car speed off very fast and loud.”
Ms Maxfield said she thought someone had stopped to dump rubbish in a skip she had hired – but soon realised Armani had not come inside as he always did to sleep next to Levi.
“Around the same time we heard what sounded like our Staffie run into the glass on the back door, followed by loud yelping,” she said.
“We got to the back door and found our Staffie with watery eyes like she had been crying and distressed.”
Ms Maxfield contacted Animal Aid and the microchip company, and appealed for help on the Yarra Valley Noticeboard in the hopes someone could help find their fur baby.
The Yarra Valley mum said she drove around the neighbourhood trying to find the ragdoll, while her son was distraught and couldn’t sleep a wink without his partner in crime.
Then two days later Coldstream resident Cassie Stephens put a call out on another Facebook community group to find the owner of a ragdoll who had turned up on her doorstep.
Luckily the family were soon reunited with Armani – who appeared unharmed – but questioned how the cat turned up almost 20km away.
“It just wasn’t right. He always runs home and he’s never gone a night without my son,” Ms Maxfield said.
“If we let him out he always comes back.”
She said Armani had been desexed, and the family think whoever catnapped their boy, let him go because they could not breed with the cat.
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