MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — A Vermont family thought they would never find their pet cat until a Christmas miracle happened.
Since July, the rest stop and Interstate 91 highway in Middletown has been Minka the cat's home.
"It’s truly amazing that she survived that," said Cortney Madore of Wallingford.
Middletown Animal Control said the Goldemund Family was relocating from Georgia to Vermont this past summer. They parked at the rest stop along I-91 northbound in Middletown to take a brief nap. Their car window was opened just a tad for some fresh air. And when they woke up, Minka was gone.
"We saw the little paw prints on the car that she had escaped through the window," said Herwig Goldemund, owner of Minka.
Goldemund said he and his wife looked for hours and eventually had to continue on with their trip to Vermont and went home without Minka.
He added when they arrived at their new home in Vermont, his wife was very sad. She decided to travel three and a half hours back to the rest stop in Middletown and spent the night there with her dog just to see if Minka would come around.
"We were really heartbroken that the cat was gone and we did not think that we’d ever see her again," added Goldemund.
Minka was spotted multiple times by drivers on I-91 northbound and southbound. It was last week when Madore spotted Minka twice and decided to take her off the streets.
"So when I got to work, I started pretty much calling everybody that I could think of," added Madore.
Through rain and snow for approximately six months, Minka went into survival cat mode and hopped from one side of the highway to the other.
When Madore contacted Middletown Animal Control, the officer knew immediately who the cat was.
"Obviously had a lot of ticks and was very skinny, rightfully so but other than that, was pretty good!" added Madore.
Traps with tuna and sardines were set outside in which Minka was successfully captured.
Animal Control then contacted Minka's owners and Goldemund's wife made the trip back to Connecticut to be reunited with her pet cat, just in time for Christmas.
The Goldemund Family now has this message for Madore.
"We were so thankful to her that she would actually care. A lot of people probably in that position may not really care," added Goldemund.
Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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