Just when her family was beginning to lose hope, Pepper the cat has found her way back home – thanks to the power of social media.
Pepper, an 8-year-old gray cat, first disappeared from her home on Mill Road a full week ago, on Friday, April 3. “She doesn’t like to use the litter box, so we let her do her business outside,” said Tanya Doherty, Pepper’s owner. “She’s usually very quick about it.”
But last Friday, Pepper didn’t come back inside.
“It was so scary,” Doherty said. “She never leaves the yard. She never goes near the road. We had no idea what happened to her.”
Doherty and her family posted on numerous pages on Facebook to try to find their beloved cat, but no one reached out to the family with any sightings.
“We started to think she was just gone,” Doherty said.
But this morning, a cat arrived at the North Fork Animal Welfare League shelter that looked a lot like Doherty’s description of Pepper, which had been circulating around Facebook for the past week.
Executive director Gillian Pultz recognized the cat from Doherty’s posting, though she couldn’t remember from where.
Okay facebook friends, we have a found dilute tortie cat (mostly grey with a little orange) on Middle Road in Calverton….didn’t someone just post a pic of a lost one? Help us out here if you know anything!
Posted by North Fork Animal Welfare League / Riverhead Animal Shelter on Friday, April 10, 2015
But soon after sharing the cat’s description on the Riverhead Animal Shelter’s Facebook page, a friend of Doherty’s called her to share the news.
“We rushed over there right away,” Doherty said. “And when they came outside holding her, I just couldn’t believe it. I felt like I was going to collapse.”
As it turns out, Pepper had been living safely in a neighbor’s house the entire week. Butch and Elizabeth Carusona found Pepper last Friday and had been allowing her to stay in their house while they tried to find her owner.
“They put flyers all around their development and in their clubhouse,” Doherty said. “I guess they don’t really use Facebook.”
But when no one responded to the flyers, the Carusonas decided to call the local shelter and see if anyone had lost a cat.
“If it weren’t for Facebook, we might have never known that she turned up at the shelter,” Doherty said. “I’m just so grateful. I can’t even put it into words. My head’s still spinning with how it all worked out.”
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
