Hayden, Idaho – A woman was left speechless after receiving a call from someone at the Kootenai Humane Society letting her know that her cat, Harriet, was at the shelter. The call was particularly stunning to Susan Moore because she thought that her cat, after being gone for nine long years, had died.

Harriet vanished from Moore’s California ranch nearly a decade ago; after numerous fruitless searches, her distraught family assumed the worst. Fast forward to Sept. 19, 2022 – good Samaritans found Harriet on the side of the road in Idaho and took her to the shelter; it was there that staff discovered a microchip. Information on that chip led to the phone call that left Moore stunned.

Shelter Development Director Vicky Nelson told USA Today:

“The lady (who) was at the front desk called the owner that was listed on the chip, she started talking to her, and the lady was pretty much speechless because she didn’t realize that her cat was still alive.”

Harriet was taken in by one of the shelter’s foster families and though she could go back to her original, California family, there is concern that whoever has been caring her for the past nine years might be missing her. Moore told the news agency,

“I feel like she belonged to somebody else after this. She lived somewhere for nine years. I mean, I have no idea whether she would remember us.”