Murphy Found
Dear Bay Weekly:
I wrote to you over three weeks ago, when we were desperate for help to find our cat, Murphy, who was missing as of about June 5. I could not have asked for a more supportive and caring response.
You wrote a story complete with picture and anecdotes about the 250 flyers I put up, the state trooper who, after seeing me drive erratically through Huntingtown to post a flyer, took flyers to hand out and helped me make a U-turn to get back to the animal surgical hospital. You mentioned www.dogsfindingdogs.com and about my wonderful experience with Annapolis-based handler Christine Rojas and her unbelievable tracking dog, Keelah.
There were the school children who had seen the flyers and saw a cat walking through their schoolyard; they started screaming Murphy, Murphy to their teacher, who promised them she would check to see if it was Murphy. It wasn’t, but she called to tell us they were all concerned and that she had checked a feral cat colony nearby for Murphy.
There were the Andersons of Port Tobacco who called Sunday night to say they had seen the article and thought they had Murphy. We went to see them and it did indeed look just like her, but this cat had its front claws, so we knew she wasn’t ours.
We responded to calls from really caring, nice people and friends who, like you and writer Margaret Tearman, just wanted Murphy to come home.
We left the light on every night hoping she would find her way back. Last night, just like every night, I went to the porch at least three times to see if she had returned and to make sure the porch light was still on.
We never lost hope. Three weeks and four days after we knew she was gone, she returned June 30. At 5:30 this morning when my husband went to take the dogs outside and begin the day, there she was!
Only God knows where she has been for almost a month. She has lost weight but shows no signs of trauma.
I don’t think there is another place in the world (certainly not in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.) where the local paper and so many people would have cared enough to write and call about Finding Murphy. The reward money that we offered on the flyers will be donated to www.dogsfindingdogs.com.
I will be forever grateful to you, Bay Weekly, and all of the people who have worried with us, cared about us and said enough prayers to ensure Murphy’s return. Any future trips she takes will be with us, only.