Stray cat poses 300-mile mystery

Jessica is about 10-years-old, and her coat is white with black patches

Animal welfare volunteers are trying to trace the owners of a cat found lost in West Yorkshire whose microchip was registered in Kent eight years ago.

Jessica is now in the care of the Wharfe Valley Cats Protection branch.

She was found in Baildon, near Bradford. Her records have her owner as a Miss S Foster, who lived in Chartham Down, near Canterbury, in 1999.

Jessica's keepers said they had no idea if her home was in West Yorkshire or still 300 miles away in Kent.

Inquiries at the Chartham Down address by the Canterbury Cats Protection branch drew a blank, and a matching Miss Foster in the Bradford area has not been found.

Found in greenhouse

Graham Hoult, from the Wharfe Valley branch, said: "It's a rollercoaster ride for us when we get a cat admitted that's got a microchip, because 75% of them do live where the registration took place and we find the owner within hours.

"But quite a slice of them are cats that sadly [the owners] haven't kept up with the paperwork.

"What was a surprise [with Jessica] was the distance involved and that it was an address in Kent."

The RSPCA's Insp Liz Wood added: "We're pretty sure the owners have moved somewhere else and just not changed the details... but unfortunately cats quite often will get in the backs of vans and cars and can travel across the country."

Mr Hoult said Jessica was found living in a greenhouse but was in good health.

A new home will be advertised for if her owner cannot be traced.