Tabby reunited with owners 12 years after going missing

BLYTHE, Calif. — After a dozen years, Butters is coming home. And his family could not be happier.

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The tabby had been missing for 12 years after going missing in Southern California, but an animal control officer was able to reunite him with his family.

According to a news release from Riverside County Department of Animal Services, animal officer Dalton Churchwell noticed the feline roaming around his backyard on Oct. 1 in Blythe. He managed to catch the cat and scanned it for a microchip.

The scan showed the cat had been missing from his San Diego home since 2011. Churchwell called the owners, Angelo and Shelley Castellino, who were stunned to learn that Butters was still alive -- and 200 miles from his original home.

“No, I thought he was dead,” Angelo Castellino told KABC-TV. “I thought he was someone’s meal.

“Butters was a very adventurous cat, and he liked to go outside a lot, and he had learned how to use the dog door. And one day, he never returned,” Castellino told the television station. “We went looking for him and our assumption was the coyotes got him because there’s a canyon nearby, and we didn’t much think about it after that except that we were sad he was gone.”

The Castellinos now live north of Seattle in Stanwood, Washington, KTLA-TV reported.

The owners were “ecstatic” when Churchwell called them and told them he had found Butters, Riverside County Animal Control said in its news release.

Angelo Castellino said he originally thought the call was a joke because it came on his 29th wedding anniversary, KABC reported.

“At first, we didn’t pick it up because we thought it was one of these scam calls, but when they called back again, my wife picked up,” Angelo Castellino told the television station. “He told her they had Butters.

“I thought it was a prank call because the cat was gone for 12 years, but how did he know our cat’s name?”

It was no prank.

Butters was flown to Seattle by ASK, a non-profit group that helps the animal services organization with various programs, KTLA reported.

He was reunited with the Castellinos on Oct. 7 after ASK volunteer Larry Randolph accompanied Butters to Seattle.

“It is amazing, and we almost think it was meant to be,” Randolph told KABC. “You’re talking about the area of Blythe, where it’s in the desert, where we have only two employees out there, and the cat decided to jump in his backyard.”

Shelley Castellino said the reunion underscores the need for pet owners to microchip their furry friends.

“Our prodigal kitty has come home,” she told KABC. “I cannot stress enough how important it is to get your kitty cats and your doggies chipped.”