Happy Endings
Happy Harold, a Christmas Tale as told by one of our volunteers

Harold was a stray cat that was living near DiNero's restaurant on Rte. 228. He had been on the streets for about 5 months before we got him, but thanks to some kind-hearted employees and patrons of DiNero's, he managed to survive better than most.

In October, one of the patrons brought him to a volunteer's home on Atlantic Hill and asked us to take care of him. As with most "trash cats", he was underweight and malnourished, covered in fleas and ticks and infested with parasites. Our group brought him to Hingham Animal Clinic for some medical care, cleaned & fattened him up and began the task of looking for his family. We posted ads and signs for about two months, with no results whatsoever. One night in November, I was running a few errands near the restaurant, and impulsively decided to hang up some "FOUND CAT" signs in the area. I stopped at West Corner liquor store, which was closed, but ran into the owner in the parking lot. He has always been very supportive of our group & agreed to hang the sign the next day. The next night, it poured outside and all of the signs I hung were ruined - or so I thought…

After caring for Harold for more than a month, we decided to try to find him a permanent home. Harold came to live with me and settled in at my apartment very quickly. At the time, I was amazed at how comfortable and relaxed he became in such a short period of time. I bought him an identification tag & hot pink collar in case he managed to get out. Hot pink usually isn't my style, but for some reason, I thought it suited him.

In December, people started expressing an interest in adopting Harold and by December 23rd, we had a good family lined up to take him. They went away for the holidays, and were going to adopt him upon their return on the 28th. But on December 25th, we received an email from a woman named Barbara, who stated that she thought Harold was her cat. She described him perfectly; right down to his two different colored eyes and the "beauty mark" on the bottom of his back paw - so I knew it was her pet. She came over today to identify him. I asked her to bring vet records & photographs of the cat as proof of ownership. When I gave her my Sunset Point address, her voice sounded a bit odd, but I chalked it up to emotion. Later on that evening, she called again to double-check on the address. When she arrived at my house, she recognized Harold, aka Razzle, right away and they had a great reunion. As fate would have it, Barbara, her boyfriend Bob & Razzle used to live in my apartment. She brought photos of Harold/Razzle lying on the rug in my living room & on the beach outside my door - wearing a hot pink collar. Barbara thought that Harold/Razzle somehow found his way home from the Hingham Animal Clinic to his old apartment. But he actually found his way to DiNero's, was brought to a volunteer's home on Atlantic Hill, and then transferred to my home a month later. I'm not sure which version is the stranger coincidence.

Apparently, Harold/Razzle escaped from her car at the Hingham Animal Clinic the previous May. He hung around the woods by the clinic for a week, and Barbara went over there every day to try to coax him back, but he was too scared & finally disappeared for good one day. Harold went on the lam & ended up about 2-3 miles away at DiNero's dumpster. Barbara never gave up hoping that she'd find him and refused to get rid of his cat toys or take his photo off her desk at work. Her boyfriend, Bob, saw the "Found Cat" sign at West Corner Liquors (on December 24th, his birthday) and called Barbara to tell her he thought he found a poster of her cat. It was posted across the street from where he worked!