TAMPA, Fla. — Stephanie Baker’s explanation is as good as any.
“Maybe he wanted to come down to Florida to get away from the weather in Michigan,” she joked. “I would.”
The theories are endless. Nobody at the Blue Pearl pet hospital knows how Daisy Duck Bandit, a striped male cat, made it all the way to Tampa, Fla., from Dearborn, Mich.
“He’s become quite a lover,” said Blue Pearl client services manager, Angelique Simeone. “A lot of the staff like playing with him.”
The hospital was able to find the owner by scanning the microchip inserted in the cat’s back. They contacted the Michigan family who thought the cat was gone for good. The family has no idea how the cat ended up in Florida.
A GoFundMe account to raise the money for a plane ticket home was established and passed the $500 goal in a few days. The biggest expense will be the necessary shots required for an animal to fly on a commercial jet.
The Blue Pearl folks just want to animal reunited with its owner.
“I was actually telling one of my good friends who lives in Texas,” said Baker. “She’s like, ‘That’s so sad. I really hope you get him back home.’ I’m like, ‘We’re working on it.'”
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