IN September, Lexie Montgomery of the Humane Society of New York traveled to New Orleans to assist in the final push to rescue dogs and cats left abandoned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She returned with 10 homeless pets, six dogs and four cats.
One cat, a gray and white female, bonded with her rescuer instantly. “She was very affectionate, holding on to my arms,” Montgomery recalls. “When my co-driver took the wheel, the cat just slept in my lap.”
Montgomery dubbed the cat Louisa and was set to adopt her if no one claimed her. First, however, the Society posted the photographs of all 10 rescued pets on petfinder.com. Two weeks later, the shelter received a call from Jean Lang-Moore. The opera aficionado, newly relocated to Houston, had recognized her beloved cat, Aida.
Armstrong’s co-worker Anne Marie Karash went over to the cage in the Society’s clinic where “Louisa” was recuperating from dehydration and stress. “Aida,” she called out. One gray paw stretched out of the cage: a positive ID.
One week later, Lang-Moore’s niece, Jewell Handy of Brooklyn, collected Aida at the Society. The two had never met before, yet somehow Aida seemed to know Handy was family. They cuddled, then Handy gingerly zipped the cat into a carrier.
In the cab, Aida cried nonstop – until Handy called Lang-Moore on her cellphone. “I started to talk to her and she stopped crying when she heard my voice,” Lang-Moore says.
Handy will deliver Aida to her aunt later this month. After that, Lang-Moore and Aida will relocate one more time, to Seattle, to begin life together anew.
E-mail Julia Szabo at js@pet-reporter.com.