CAT BELIEVED TO BE EN ROUTE TO LAKE HĀWEA AFTER ESCAPING IN TEKAPO
Source: stuff (Extract)
Posted: December 29, 2020
The distraught owner of a cat who escaped in Tekapo while being transferred north is urging people to look out for him as he makes his way home.
Lucas Parkinson believes his 4-year-old cat, Sphinx, is en route to Lake Hāwea after wriggling out of his harness during a toilet stop on the way to Wellington on December 21 – but despite hundreds of people spreading the word on social media, nobody has seen him since.
“The community support has been great. It’s reassuring that so many people are keeping an eye out for him,” Parkinson said.
“I’m hoping he’ll come back but if someone saw him and helped him, that would be amazing. Even if they just let us know they saw him running around, and he’s still alive.”
Parkinson was worried Sphinx would eat something poisonous or be mistaken for a feral cat and shot while travelling south.
“We miss him and really want him to come home, so he can be safe. He means a lot to us,” he said.
“He’s a friendly cat, just a bit skittish. He’s got a funny little meow.”
Parkinson found out Sphinx was missing when his partner called him “in hysterics”.
“I’ve got to stay down here [Lake Hāwea] for work, but my partner and daughter are moving to Auckland. They were stopping in Wellington to stay for a month, before heading up,” he said.
“A couple of hours up the road, Sphinx went crazy and got out of his harness and shot off.”
Whenever his hope that Sphinx would turn up at his doorstep wavered, Parkinson thought back to his partner’s grandfather’s experience with a blind cat who disappeared after being shifted from Ōtaki to Wellington – resurfacing three months later at his original home.
“The girls are distraught. My daughter is staying strong that he’s making his way home, but my partner is worried he’s gone,” Parkinson said.
“If Sphinx comes back, he’ll stay with me until the girls are in Auckland. Then, we can put him on a plane.”
Parkinson, who owns Wanaka restaurant Ode, adopted Sphinx after finding him out the back of his workplace as a kitten.
Parkinson asked those who had seen Sphinx to email him at: lucas@odewanaka.com.
