Cats are loving animals and when they find a home, they will always go back no matter what the circumstances are. This mirrors the story of Toby, a stray cat who walked 12 miles back to his family that gave up on him.
Toby found this family when he was looking for a home but they decided to give him away because they thought Toby didn’t get along with the other cats.
Toby Makes It Back to His Old Home
Toby’s new family welcomed him with open arms but Toby was not yet ready to have a new home and family. Hence, he left his new home and walked 12 miles to his old family. Unfortunately, they didn’t want Toby anymore.
While this act can be touching and impressive to most people, Toby’s family didn’t see it that way. They planned to get rid of Toby by euthanizing him.
“It was heartbreaking. He made it back to his old home on his own and they sentenced him to death,” says Tara Lynn, communications director for the SPCA of Wake County.
Tara adds, “They took him to an animal shelter and asked them to euthanize him.” Apparently, the animal shelter refused to euthanize Toby and called the SPCA of Wake County instead.
Toby Gets Treated at the Center
The center took Toby’s situation seriously and ran tests on him after having found out that Toby walked 12 miles to his old home. Tara Lynn unhappily revealed the result of Toby’s medical assessment.
According to her, “He tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus and also had an upper respiratory infection. We got him treated for the infection, which took a little while.”
At first, Toby was not that excited about mingling with other cats but he easily became a favorite at the public shelter.
Toby Finds a New, Loving Family
After getting treated, the shelter put Toby for adoption, sharing it on their social media account. Because Toby is an adorable cat, it didn’t take long for someone to adopt him.
The lucky pet owner who signed for Toby’s adoption was the North Carolina resident, Michelle Puckett. She immediately went to the center to find out if she and Toby are a good fit and she didn’t leave the center disappointed.
Together with his two siblings, Toby found all the love and warmth his old family failed to give him. “He’s so sweet and cuddly,” describes Michelle. “He’s taken over our bed but we don’t mind. He loves relaxing and sleeping under the pillows”.
Michelle was so thankful that SPCA saved Toby and the animal shelter didn’t allow him to be euthanized.
She also said that she could not understand how Toby’s old family could do such a thing to him. Nonetheless, she hoped that this will teach and inspire people to always give their pets a second chance.
The story of Toby touched a lot of people and netizens were so happy about his adoption. Pamela Jewel, a Facebook user commented, “He is beautiful and worth more than the people who tried to have him put down. I am so glad that humane people adopted him. His former owners should not be allowed to ever have another animal.”
This story only proves that animals also long for love and kindness and humans should have the compassion and the heart to give them what they truly deserve.
Do you have pets at home, too? Feel free to share this article with your family and friends who may be inspired by Toby’s story.
Here’s a video of Toby when he was getting settled at the SPCA: