Rodney the cat enjoying some down time in Whanganui on Thursday. Photo / Supplied
Rodney the cat enjoying some down time in Whanganui on Thursday. Photo / Supplied
Rodney the cat, the famous feline who first sprang to the public's attention after being dumped outside Marton, is back in care once again after spending nearly four months on the run.
Barring a return trip to the great unknown, he will spend the rest of his days being looked after in Whanganui.
Last July Rodney was allegedly dumped about 15km north of Marton having been a fixture of the town's ITM shop floor for the best part of a decade.
After an uproar from residents, Rodney was eventually found and rehomed in Marton before being relocated to New Plymouth, where he was, albeit very briefly, adopted by a young couple there.
He disappeared again at the end of October last year, but Beverly Dowling of animal rescue group Rodney's Rescues (set up after his initial disappearance), said she never gave up hope of finding him again.
After hearing of his latest escape, Dowling made the journey from Levin to Taranaki to try to trap him.
"We looked at the terrain, and the fact that he's attracted to men and to industry, and we also looked for areas of high land.
"Right where he went missing, the street goes directly down to Paritutu Rock, and I thought 'if I was a cat, I'd be hightailing it there, I'd be looking for ITM from the top of that mountain'."
Sure enough, Paritutu Rock is where he was eventually found, but not before a thorough search of the area.
"We did almost 3000 flyers, and everyone in Spotswood knows about Rodney the cat," Dowling said
"A guy even told us that he went into his laundry one day and found a cat sitting on top of his chest freezer. That would be the same height as a shop counter, so I think Rodney was sitting there going 'well, are you going to buy anything?'."
Not long before Rodney was found, a business near Paritutu had contacted her about a tabby cat seen running around, Dowling said, with an employee recalling they had seen the same cat on a CCTV camera on New Year's day.
Rodney had called ITM Marton home for 10 years before being dumped in the countryside 15km out of town. Photo / Supplied
"When we saw the footage we gasped, because it looked just like Rodney.
"We couldn't see the face close up, but the markings were very similar. After that we set up food stations and put food out at the same time every night, because cats get into a routine."
Three cats began to visit the stations Dowling said, one of which seemed to be Rodney himself.
"He was even sticking to his old ITM schedule of meal times at 11am and 6pm.
"I drove up from Levin in the very early hours of yesterday morning in order to set traps for 11am. We eventually got him at 8pm that night."
Rodney has now set up residence in Whanganui with another team member of Rodney's Rescues, Dowling said, in what will hopefully be his "forever home".
