Woman's 3-legged cat returns after 7-week search

[December 18, 2008]  CINCINNATI (AP) -- A Cincinnati area woman has again found Hope, her three-legged cat with that name whose disappearance led to an extensive search. Hope's owner, Norma Meece, had hired a pet detective as part of a nearly seven-week search costing more than $500 dollars after the cat disappeared from Meece's home in suburban Green Township.

Pictures of the missing pet were plastered all over the neighborhood, and the pet detective spent hours looking inside sheds and under porches with the help of a bloodhound.

Meece said Hope turned up Sunday in a humane trap set near her home.

The cat is a former stray whose left front leg had been amputated. Meece said Hope appears happy to be home but looks a bit thin and has some scrapes on her nose.

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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com/

[Associated Press]

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