A California couple lost their beloved cat in Yellowstone National Park, a wilderness larger than some U.S. states, and spent two months grieving and worrying about his whereabouts.
But as the summer ended, so did their tragic story. Benny and Suzanne Anguiano got a call last month from an animal rescue group in Roseville, California, about 800 miles (1,287 km) from Yellowstone, saying they had found their lost cat, Rainbow.
In June, the couple went camping in the national park, where their cat was startled by something wild. Rainbow ran into the trees, but was not seen for the next 60 days. Every day during the trip, they searched for him, leaving treats and toys for him, hoping he would return, but to no avail.
“We had to go without him,” Suzanne Anguiano told KSBW. “That was the worst day because I felt like I’d let him down.”
In early August, Rainbow’s microchip came in handy.
The couple received a message from the pet-tracking service Pet Watch, saying the cat had been found at the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Roseville. A woman had found Rainbow alone on the street and taken him to the animal shelter. “He was really exhausted,” Suzanne said. “Maybe he just didn’t have much energy left to keep going.”
Suzanne first shared her rollercoaster experience on Facebook, explaining that she didn’t speak out sooner because it was “too traumatic.”
How exactly Rainbow traveled 1,300 miles from Yellowstone to Roseville remains a mystery, but the couple said they hope sharing her story will convince someone to provide details. In their interview with KSBW, the couple urged other pet owners to install trackers to make sure their pets aren’t lost forever.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, an estimated 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen each year in the United States. Only one in 50 cats in shelters are reunited with their owners, but with a microchip, nearly two in five can be reunited with their families.
