Trucking company boss to bring home 'Trucker' the cat
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Published Tuesday December 18th, 2007
Trucker, the stray cat who survived an incredible journey from Moncton to Newfoundland in the back of a tractor-trailer, will likely be coming back to Moncton, but probably not before the new year.
Jeff Worton, president and CEO of Focus Logistics in Moncton, confirmed yesterday that he would adopt the wayward feline and pay for his plane trip home if his real owners are not found by the end of the week.
"When I read about it in the paper I knew I had to do something," Worton said yesterday.
"I'm a cat lover, my mother had always taken in strays so I wanted to do something. If it's somebody's cat, I'll pay the airfare to have it flown home. If no one steps forward by the end of the week, I'll take him and bring him back to Moncton. We'll adopt him as long as he's healthy."
Worton said he already has three cats and a dog so one more probably won't make much of a difference in the home.
And as the owner of trucking business, he can appreciate how cold and miserable it must have been for Trucker in the back of a tractor-trailer without food or water for several days on his wayward journey to Newfoundland.
"It must have been awful cold."
Bonnie Harris, manager of the SPCA in Gander, Newfoundland, said yesterday that Trucker is doing fine and putting on a little bit of weight, but his true owners have not yet come forward. In keeping with SPCA policy, they will wait until Friday. If his owners don't claim him by then, he will be put up for adoption.
Worton said the adoption process would likely take a couple of weeks, so it is unlikely Trucker will be back in Moncton by Christmas. He estimates the airfare to bring the cat home would be about $400.
The story of Trucker's incredible journey made news last week after the SCPA in Gander got a call from a truck driver who was delivering a shipment of goods from Co-op Atlantic in Moncton to the company's warehouse in Gander.
It was presumed that Trucker stowed away inside the trailer sometime before Sunday morning, Dec. 9, and was locked in before the two-day trip to Newfoundland, which included the ferry crossing from North Sydney to Port-Aux Basques.
Harris said it's likely the cat had nothing to eat or drink during the journey but he was in reasonably good condition when he arrived at the Gander shelter.
"He's doing fine now. He's got a bit of an upset stomach, but that's common for strays. They are usually scroungers who eat what they can and then get an upset stomach when they get good food."
Harris noted that Trucker has tested negative for feline leukemia and appears to be gaining a bit of weight and getting better.
"He's extremely friendly," she said last week. "Once you've got him in your arms there's no getting him out."
n If you think you know Trucker by some other name, you can contact the Gander SPCA at (709) 651-3002 or email ganderspca@hotmail.com.