There wasn't a dry eye in the house at Charleston Animal Society as Sam the cat was reunited with his owner after he'd gone missing for 11 years! Sam's owner, Jennifer Ravenel, adopted Sam in 2011, but two years later a dog spooked him and he just disappeared from her Hollywood home.
"I searched and searched and asked everyone, but nobody saw him," Ravenel said.
Sam's story has gone viral since it was first shared August 12th, with more than 2,000,000 views on Instagram, 345,000 on Facebook and 14,000 on YouTube. In the video, Ravenel gets emotional as she sees her beloved cat for the first time in more than a decade.
When she first got the call from Charleston Animal Society about Sam being found, Ravenel thought it was a prank. But days after being reunited, it seems that Sam is settling in.
"Everything is going great," Ravenel said. "Since Sam's been home, he hasn't wanted to go back outside, he is mostly staying on the foot of my bed."
The miraculous reunion was only possible because Sam had a microchip.
"Getting a microchip should be on the top of every pet owner's checklist," said Charleston Animal Society Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Aldwin Roman. "Without that chip, this beautiful reunion probably wouldn't have happened."
Every animal at Charleston Animal Society is microchipped before adoption. Microchips can be obtained at your veterinarian's office. Another option for pet owners is to register your animal at PetcoLoveLost.org, a free service that uses facial recognition technology to reunite lost pets.
