TWO of the five cats reported missing from nearby streets in Helensburgh during July have been reunited with their owners - after being found around 20 miles from home.
In last week’s Advertiser we told how almost half a dozen pets had disappeared from Dennistoun Crescent and Lawrence Avenue in the space of a month, with owners fearing that they had been snatched.
One of the missing moggies, Jax, was found in Coilessan, near Arrochar last Wednesday and was handed in to the animal rescue centre in Milton before being returned to his owners.
And on Monday, another cat, Patch, was returned home to rightful owners Alan Paterson and Julie Elshani after she was discovered in the same area.
READ MORE: Pet owners' panic as five cats go missing from two Helensburgh streets
Lisa Johnstone, who lives in Lawrence Avenue and first contacted the Advertiser to report the vanishing pets, appealed for locals to keep an eye out for the remaining cats.
She said: “This is not a coincidence, these cats have been stolen and dumped there, so there is a massive chance the other cats are in this area.
“We won’t rest until we have found all our babies.”
Patch and Jax were both found by the entrance to Ardgartan Estate, just north of Arrochar, with the former having been taken in by Councillor Iain Paterson and his wife Fiona.
The couple found Patch on July 7, four days after she had gone missing from Dennistoun Crescent and looked after the two-year-old cat until they recognised her from the Advertiser’s story.
After the pet was reunited with owners Alan, Julie and their son Ben, 9, the family said they were grateful to have her back.
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Alan said: “Ben is very happy to be reunited with Patch, we’re all happy to see her back.
“Ben spent a lot of time looking out his bedroom window to see if she came back down off the railway line but obviously as the days go by you start to wonder if she’ll return.
“They turned up at the ranger house near Arrochar, so it’s an unusual place for them to be left, it’s very rural.
“It seems obvious that someone has deliberately taken them to this location.
“The other cat that was found there is around 14 or 15-years-old so there’s no way he could’ve made his way there without somebody helping him.
“We’re hoping the others have been left there as well.
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“I have no idea why somebody would do something like that, I can’t even speculate, you never know what people might do.”
Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “It is unusual that two cats would be found missing in the same area but we would hope there wasn’t any deliberate intent to transport these animals for malicious reasons.
“We have been made aware of incidents where cats have accidentally jumped in to a vehicle and been transported to a different area as the driver has been unaware of the animal’s presence.
“We would always recommend that people microchip their pets so they can be identified and returned home if they go missing.
“If anyone has any information about these incidents, please contact our confidential animal helpline on 03000 999 999.”
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