Albuquerque Cat Winds Up In Chicago

A cat from Albuquerque, New Mexico, ended up in the Windy City, but his owner has no idea how. Robin Alex’s cat, Charles, disappeared eight months ago when she was volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans and had asked a friend to take care of him. Robin, who said she was “crushed” when Charles vanished, received a call on Tuesday saying her cat is alive and well and more than 1,300 miles away. Chicago Animal Control had picked up her wandering cat as a stray. Staffers called Alex after finding that Charles had a tracking microchip embedded. But Alex said she couldn’t afford the round-trip ticket to bring Charles home and was afraid he might be euthanized. Good Samaritan Lucien Sims was on her way to a wedding in Chicago and agreed to pick up Charles from the shelter. Sims got a company to donate a cat carrier and American Airlines waived the cat’s travel fee. Charles was back at home last night.