Berkeley Man Finds Missing Cat After Two Weeks Out In The Cold

BAYVILLE, NJ - Michael Anthony had vowed not to stop looking for Shane, a missing 14-year-old cat, until he found him.

He kept his word. He and a friend managed to trap Shane in the bitter cold on Thursday night. Shane had been gone for more than two weeks. The temperature in Bayville Wednesday night dipped to seven degrees.

"Hi, look what I found!," Anthony wrote on the Bayville...best place on earth Facebook page. "Around 9:30 tonight, my friend and I found Shane in the trap. Thank you all for your help, support, sharing, messaging, and concerns!!! He missed Christmas, but he's gonna have a Happy New Year! It's reassuring to know there are still such great people in the world."

Anthony and his wife Jax set up the trap, put out a litter box for Shane and left seemingly endless cans of cat food and tuna out for him. Neighbors in the Hidden Creek apartment complex kept an eye out for Shane, some even posting reports on Facebook of where they last saw him. One person managed to snap a photo of him on Wednesday. But Shane always seem to be about 10 feet ahead of everyone.

Until tonight.

Both Anthony and Shane looked weary in the photo he posted on Facebook tonight. But they will probably both sleep well for the first time in weeks.

The declawed, indoor cat went missing from Anthony's home in the apartment complex off Scott Road in Bayville. Anthony made it his mission to find the elderly cat.

"I don't have a lot of money, but would gladly give something to anyone who finds him," he wrote on Facebook when Shane first went missing.

Shane's owner was staying with Anthony and his family and their two cats for several days. Shane darted out a door early one Wednesday morning in early December. His owner left the next day.

And now that Shane has been found, he's staying put, as far as Anthony is concerned.

Photo: Courtesy of Michael Anthony and Shane