While Donald Trump spins delusional tales of pet cats being eaten in Springfield, Ohio, the feline hero of the day is moggy Rayne Beau—who was separated from his owners for two months while on vacation in Yellowstone National Park and then embarked on an 800-mile cross-terrain odyssey in an attempt to make it home to California.
Owners Benny and Susanne Angiano were on a camping trip at Yellowstone in June with their beloved pet when Rayne Beau was apparently startled by something, ran off into the trees, and couldn’t be found.
The couple tried to coax the Siamese back by laying out treats and his favorite toys, hoping he would eventually return. But to no avail.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We had to leave without him,” Susanne told their TV station KSBW. “That was the hardest day because I felt like I was abandoning him.”
Days turned into weeks. The couple were resigned to never seeing the animal again.
But, it turned out, Rayne Beau still had one or two lives left.
He was eventually found—800 miles from Yellowstone in the City of Roseville, California. A woman had found him in the street and handed him over to the local branch of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He had been fitted with a microchip by owners, who were traced by volunteers.
Rayne Beau weighed between 7 and 8 pounds, down from his usual 13 pounds, according to Susanne. The incredible odyssey has left him tired, say his owners, and he has been recuperating from his incredible adventure with treats and lost of rest.
“He was really depleted,” said Susanne. “He probably didn’t have much energy left to go any farther.”
According to NBC News, the family has now fitted Rayne Beau with a global tracker so he doesn’t go missing again.
An estimated 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Only one in 50 cats in shelters return to their owners, but with a microchip, nearly two out of five are reunited with their families.
