An African serval cat named Spartacus has been reunited with his owners after escaping from his home in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and spending three days in the wild.
Dean King, the big cat’s owner, said that Spartacus could be skittish around strangers and had run away on Wednesday after getting spooked by Hank the family dog. The family tried to look for him in the woods near their home and contacted Merrimack Police Department to call for help.
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“The dog didn’t want to come in last night. So my wife opened the front door. The dog and the cat spooked each other and off he went. He’s gone,” Dean told AP News.
On Friday, the police revealed that the four-year-old wild cat was trapped near its home and was in good health. After three whole days spent in the New Hampshire wild, the serval was found safe and sound.
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“Good Morning Merrimack! The serval cat that was missing has been found. It was trapped near its home and is in good health. It’s been reunited with its owner. Thank you for all the interest and shares,” the police announced the good news on Facebook.
According to Merrimack’s animal control officer Haylie Gulino, the search was pretty tricky because she along with her fellow officers had never seen a case like this before and were not sure what to look for.
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“They had no idea; I had to show them a picture of what they normally look like. So, like I said, this was uncharted territory. It was out of the norm for most people here,” Haylie Gulino told the Daily Mail.
The beautiful 40-pound cat was legally adopted from a Florida zoo four years ago. For the past few years, he has been living happily with his family. It’s worth mentioning that the family owns the cat legally and has a permit from New Hampshire’s department of fish and game.
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A photo of Spartacus machine with his paws up on the kitchen counter, busy inspecting the coffee machine, has gone viral on social media.
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Lisa King, Dean’s wife, posted a video of Spartacus perched in his enclosure on Saturday and thanked people for their support and care.
“Dean and I want to thank everyone for your help and support. Spartacus is home safe and warm. I personally can’t express my gratitude enough! I have a bond with this cat and he is my person,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“I personally can’t express my gratitude enough! I have a bond with this cat and he is my person.”
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People on the internet left all sorts of comments expressing their happiness about the good news:
“So mixed feelings, such as beautiful animal and relieved it is safe to back home, also wondering why this cat is living as a domestic pet. Hoping it is safe and happy, and that keeping wild cats as pets isn’t common, and where it needs rarely because of circumstance, that the cats are happy and safe,” a woman commented on the post.
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“Yay! I can’t believe how invested I was in this cat. He’s not even mine and I feel like my own pet made it home! So happy for his owners!” wrote a Facebook user. “I am so happy and relieved to hear that! What an exotic, beautiful animal! To the owners, give your boy a hug for me,” expressed another.
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“Thank you, MPD for your service and for taking the time to post this happy update. I was worried because temps have been colder and not good for an indoor, sleek cat like this, disregarding the wild animal and vehicle threats,” said a third.
If you love Spartacus, you can check out his adventures with his brother, Hank the dog, on Instagram.
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H/t: the-sun