In Lakeland, Florida, a stray cat named George stunned locals after pulling off a daring escape from an animal shelter, then making a solo journey nearly 5 kilometers (3 miles) back to his neighborhood. SPCA Florida had taken George, a community cat known to roam the Loma Verde apartment complex, for a routine neutering procedure as part of a trap-neuter-return (TNR) program.
Everything seemed to be going as planned—until George escaped from his cage before the staff could release him back to his familiar territory. The shelter staff found this baffling. “It’s extremely rare for cats to break out after surgery,” one SPCA staffer said. “We didn’t even know he was gone at first.”
The Long Walk Home…