Sam went missing shortly after his family moved to Georgetown over five years ago | Image Courtesy: Sarah Kee via Facebook Post
It goes without saying, 2020 has been a year many people would like to not repeat, but for one Georgetown family, 2020 brought a small miracle.
“This may be a long shot, but hopefully someone knows how to put me in touch with the kind souls who helped return our missing kitty to us after over FIVE YEARS being missing,” Sarah Kee wrote on the Georgetown, TX Facebook page on Tuesday, November 2.
That’s right, Sarah Kee and her family were reunited with their beloved family pet after he had gone missing for over five years.
“Our beloved Sam got lost just a couple of weeks after we moved to Georgetown in August of 2015. We were devastated,” Kee wrote. “We combed our neighborhood and all the surrounding ones for months, put up flyers, posted all across social media, even our mail carrier kept his picture in her truck. We had many possible sightings, but they were never our boy. We resigned ourselves to the fact that something horrible had happened to him.”
Fast forward to Sunday, November 1st, 2020 when Georgetown Animal Control Officer Rutherford called the Kee family to let them know that Sam had been found, alive and well, and was on his way home.
“I have never been more confused, skeptical, amazed, bewildered all at the same time,” Kee said. “Officer Rutherford brought him to our home, and you bet I cried like a big baby as soon as I saw her pull him out of her truck.”
After getting lost, Officer Rutherford told the family, Sam had been living his life as a neighborhood stray in Georgetown Village. But, when Julie Peschel and her family moved in, and saw Sam wandering the neighborhood, they made a call to animal control to see if he had a microchip.
”We had seen Sam a time or two wandering the neighborhood, but on the day after Halloween, my son and I spotted him lying down partially hidden in our bushes. The cat seemed very docile for a stray, so I was worried that he was injured or sick, so that is why my husband decided to call Animal Control,” Julie Peschel told Hello Georgetown.”We really wanted him to be taken in, checked out, and cared for.”
Animal control took Sam and the Peschels hoped their new feline friend would find a happy ending. Little did they know the surprise that awaited them on social media just days later.
“When I saw Sam’s owner’s post on Facebook I felt a huge mix of emotions, from shocked, excited, happy, and sad (that the cat had been missing for 5 years) all at the same time,” Peschel said. “I was just so happy to hear that Sam made it home, was okay, and that his story had a happy ending! I cannot imagine what it must have been like for both Sam’s owner and Sam to live 5 years apart, but I am so thrilled they are back together again.”
While the story in and of itself is remarkable, and one could even say miraculous, both families also echo a similar lesson learned in the story of Sam.
“Microchip your animals,” Kee wrote on Facebook. “And if you see a ‘stray’, get it checked for a microchip, PLEASE!”
As for Sam’s thoughts on the whole story, well Kee said he quickly made himself at home again and curled up for one of the best naps he’s had in years.
“He is 16 years old now, very arthritic, has lost most of his vision, but he is still our baby,” Kee said. “I truly never thought I would see him again, and I still can’t quite believe this is real.”
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