By Janet McAfee
Your heart aches when a beloved pet goes missing. You feel the angst of not knowing their fate, wondering if they are hungry or sick, and worst of all worrying if they are still alive. One local woman, Amy Hope, turned her worry into action, and is taking extraordinary means to find her beautiful missing Tuxedo cat named Midnight.
Midnight’s photo appears almost daily in the lost pet section of the Desert Sun newspaper. Amy posted flyers in her Indian Wells neighborhood, went door to door for 2 blocks, contacted Home Again Microchip twice to send out an email blast, and faxed flyers to local veterinary practices. She registered her cat with Pet Harbor, Paw Boost, Lost My Doggie, and Tabby Tracker. She posted her beloved pet on “Lost and Found Pets in the Coachella Valley” Facebook page. A thousand post cards about Midnight were mailed to neighboring homes. Amy retained the services of pet psychic, Cherie Vergini, whose reading on Midnight indicates she is still alive.
Midnight disappeared on April 10, 2016. Time has passed, and the trail may have grown cold. Amy Hope is keeping “hope” alive and believes her cat is out there somewhere. The friendly feline may have picked up by someone who did not know to check for a microchip. Resourceful creatures, cats can survive outside for extended periods of time. In a recent sighting, a La Quinta cove resident spotted a Tuxedo cat resembling Midnight on the wall behind her home.
It was love at first sight when Amy first met Midnight and her sister Barnie. She recalls, “Midnight and her twin, both domestic young kittens, were brought to a Pennsylvania horse farm to live in the barn to hunt mice and vermin. My husband and I were renting a cottage on the farm during that summer of 2015. I fell in love with the kittens, fed them, named them. We offered them shelter in our cottage when the evenings turned cool in the fall. I couldn’t bear the thought of them living in a barn during the freezing Pennsylvania winters, so my husband arranged with the farm’s caretaker for us to keep them.”
The kittens were spayed and vaccinated before boarding the flight to California. Back in Indian Wells for the season, Midnight and Barnie thrived in their new home. Amy took them for vet checks and microchipping at The Cat Clinic to protect them should they ever go missing. That microchip would identify Midnight had she ended up at a shelter because animals are scanned upon intake. Our county shelter also notifies pet owners if their microchipped animal is found deceased. Any vet clinic will scan a found pet at no cost for anyone who brings in a stray.
Midnight and Barnie were primarily indoor cats, but allowed outside. Amy states, “We left the kitchen window open during the day so they could come and go. They were not allowed to stay out at night. I would go out in the early evening to locate them and bring them in. Midnight went out around 6:00 pm on April 10, 2016…..she’s been lost ever since. I’ve combed the neighborhood looking for her each and every day.”
Eventually, Amy and her husband returned to Pennsylvania for the summer, but continued the search for their beloved Midnight. A GENEROUS REWARD IS OFFERED FOR HER SAFE RETURN.
Someone reading this article may have innocently picked up Midnight assuming she was a stray. You may know someone who has this gorgeous Tuxedo cat. She went missing near Camino del Ray and Fairway Streets in Indian Wells, but could have been transported to another area. Midnight has a distinctive black marking on one of her front paws. Amy’s plea will touch your heart, “We miss Midnight dearly, and so does her sister Barnie!” Contact Amy at (610) 496-5942.
