Karen Jarnecic and her long-lost cat Allie
Allie the cat went missing while her owner was on vacation – 11 years ago.
“After she disappeared,” owner Karen Jarnecic told the Omaha World Herald, “I didn’t know if she was hit by a car or had died. I just hoped for the best.”
That was, until she got a call last month from an animal clinic asking if she owned a cat named Allie! How did Allie end up getting scanned by a vet’s office for a microchip 11 long years after she went missing? Here’s her story:
It was after a massive snow storm in Omaha, Nebraska back in 1997 that a 1-year-old female stray cat showed up in Karen Jarnecic’s neighborhood. She decided to keep the kitty and named her “Allie,” having her microchipped. 8 years later, when Karen was on vacation, the pet-sitter informed her that Allie had gone missing. She was wearing a collar and ID tag and was microchipped, and Karen took out an ad in the local newsletter, but no one ever called. Her veterinarian eventually listed Allie as deceased.
In 2013, a cat was seen coming out of a storm drain a few blocks to the north of where Allie went missing in 2005.
JoAnn Burns saw the cat but wasn’t able to get near her. She and her boyfriend left food out for her and let her into their garage to stay warm in the winter. They eventually befriended the cat and named her Kit Kitty. When they were able to, they brought her to the vet – and that’s when she was scanned for a microchip. Allie was eventually returned to Karen because of that chip that was inserted 11 years prior!
“Allie and I are truly indebted to JoAnn for her big heart and generosity,” Karen said, “and I’m so thrilled to have Allie back to live out her life with me.”
A 2010 pet survey estimated that only 12 percent of cats and 26 percent of dogs in the U.S. had microchips.
