A local family is finding themselves in the midst of a real-life Christmas miracle after a long-time family member returned home after more than a year without a sign of life.
13 months ago, Snickers the cat was spooked by the barking of two big neighborhood dogs and was sent bolting to safety from his canine adversaries.
The escape left Thorold mother-of-two Jess Rebekka missing her long-time companion who had moved with her from Edmonton, and her children heartbroken.
"They would get upset and asked me 'We're not gonna see Snickers again, are we?' I tried telling them that cats have come home after several years and that we have to be hopeful, but he was nowhere to be found," said Jess to Thorold News.
But then, everything changed.
Late last week, she was browsing through Facebook, when a picture in the group 'The heart and the hope of lost and found pets Niagara Region' appeared, showing a familiar face and set of whiskers.
"I was like, 'Huh. That kind of looks like Snickers,' Jess recounted but wasn't entirely sure as lookalikes had caught her eye before.
With the help of her friend Jules, she made the drive out to Smithville, 35 minutes away from her home, where a woman said she had seen the skinny tabby skulking around, asking for food and attention.
Some particular markings confirmed what Jess had not dared think to be true at first - it was Snickers.
Skinny, but well-groomed and in his usual social mood, he let her pet him before he voluntarily entered the carrier to be brought back home to Thorold.
The reaction from Jess' children Kyla, 10 and Rylan, 7, was disbelief at first.
Then came the tears.
"They said that it is a real-life Christmas miracle," said Jess, who noted that Snickers immediately began making himself comfortable in his new-old home.
"We were going to keep him in a separate room at first, just in case he was anxious to be back, but he came up to us and wanted to be petted, went to grandpa, and laid down with him. I thought I would never see him again."
As a single mother of two, also supporting additional family members and currently unemployed during the pandemic, the unexpected addition of veterinary bills came suddenly for Jess Rebekka.
Donations for Snickers veterinary bills can be sent to [email protected]
The true tale of the adventurous Snicker's adventures in the Niagara region will likely never be known, says Jess, who can only speculate about what the 13 months were actually like for her four-legged friend.
"We said, since he was still fairly clean, that he probably has been couch-surfing."
