Woody and BooBoo grew up in a foster home, under the loving watch of the Animal Rescue Force of South Florida. Someone must have done a very good job of socializing them in their first 4 months, because they turned into wonderful cat brothers.

It took over a year for them to be adopted, only to be brought back, very traumatized. Once again, the volunteers went to work, re-socializing them and teaching them to trust humans again. Once again, they were adopted.

Their new guardians called to say they were moving to Colorado and they were thinking about bringing them back. No one really knows what happened exactly, but the next thing they knew, there was a call from the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, saying two large tabby boys had been brought in as strays. They’d been tracked through their microchips, implanted in the cats as kittens. Their volunteers had 5 days to come get them.

We got the message through our Facebook page. The panic came through the words on the screen: “We want the boys back! We will do whatever needs to be done to make this happen.”

We lined up a foster and made some calls. Thanks to the Humane Society, we were approved to go get them. We were a little nervous and made a couple of extra contacts to make sure they knew these cats were spoken for.

At HSPPR, the receptionist went to get the boys, bringing back the first one. We were lucky to have the one possession the cats also still had: their names. We called out, “Is that Woody or BooBoo?” A plaintive “mrrrow” answered. We had our guys.

They arrived at the foster’s and BooBoo immediately came out to investigate. He seems to be the joker of the two. Woody took a little longer, but the two were soon rolling around, making kitty biscuits and purring. They love to play anyway, but a little mountain catnip made them even more at ease.

One of their volunteers will drive all the way to Colorado to pick up The Boys, but we’re trying to find some other transport to shorten her trip, including asking our friends at National Mill Dog Rescue this weekend.

Less than 2% of cats without microchips find their way home if they end up at a shelter. These boys are the perfect example of why a little microchip can go such a long way.

If you want to make sure your cat has the same chance at being reunited with you, should he or she get lost, please join us this Sunday for an Adoption Fair and Low-cost Microchipping Clinic. You will receive far more piece of mind than the $25 the chip will cost you. Just ask the volunteers from Florida. And Woody & BooBoo.