A Nanaimo woman whose cat came back after three and a half years believes he was deliberately taken and dumped far from home.  "NoNo" the cat was found by staff at the Living Forest campground near Cedar last week.  Staff contacted the Nanaimo SPCA and it tracked down NoNo's owner, through a tattoo.  Laura Brethour says she was shocked and surprised at both the phone call and the fact that NoNo was found 20 kilometers from where he went missing.  Brethour does not believe her 15 year old cat wandered that far away on his own.

Lesli Steeves says she's not surprised.  Steeves is one of the founders of ROAM, a volunteer group devoted to finding lost pets.  She says she's dealt with cases of cats being removed from their neighbourhoods and released many kilometres away.

Steeves urges neighbours to work together to find creative solutions like installing a motion censor sprinkler to deter a wandering cat.  She believes Nanaimo's new animal responsibility bylaw will also prevent cat-nappings in the future.  The new rules ban cats from being outdoors unless it is on its own property or under the control of its owner.  Bylaw officers have the power to impound wandering cats.  Meanwhile Brethour says NoNo is now an indoor cat.