The hunt to find the owner of globe-trotting stray cat Ozzie has gone global!
The world’s media have now picked up on the story as it has since been revealed that the cat, found straying in Laurelvale, was born in 1989 – making him at least 25 years old!
The story of the cat, who was microchipped in Australia, has today been gracing some of the world’s leading newspapers and broadcasters.
Everyone is getting in on the act and helping to share the appeal, from Sky TV, ITV News, The Independent, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, to the Sydney Morning Herald, Huffington Post and even the Shanghai Daily!
The story was sparked when a volunteer for the Armagh Branch of Cats Protection was shocked when a routine check-up of a stray cat revealed that he was registered in Australia.
The ginger cat, named Ozzie by the branch, was microchipped in Sydney in 2000. The microchip register also revealed that his real name is Tigger and he was born in 1989 – making him at least 25 years old!
Co-ordinator Gillian McMullen says: “I responded to a call from a member of the public who was concerned about a poorly stray cat that had been hanging around her garden for several days. The poor cat was starving but obviously had been cared for in the past because it was wearing a collar.
“I took it to Willow Veterinary Clinic on the Mahon Road, Portadown, where we discovered it was microchipped and this is where the mystery begins. The cat had originally been microchipped in Australia!
“In 2004 he turned up as a stray in a vet clinic in London, but no owners could be traced.
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