COURTESY PHOTO
Franklin the Cat.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — The stolen cat has been returned to its owners.
Franklin, the black feline who was recently stolen from outside Pet Express, was returned by a Good Samaritan.
“He’s just great,” said Rob Mellace, the cat’s master and owner of the retail shop. “It’s just great to have him home.”
On Friday night, Mellace got a call from Lynn resident Maria Barahona, 26, who spotted Franklin at Stop & Shop in Lynn.
“She called his name and he started meowing very loud,” he said. “He does know his name. He let her pick him up. She put him right in her car and drove him over.”
Barahona brought Franklin back to the store. Ironically, the cat had been found on Franklin Street. Upon returning, the cat was hungry, eating right away and then sleeping for awhile. Now, Mellace said Franklin appears to be in good spirits, is in great condition and doesn’t seem to be traumatized.
Barahona said she spotted Franklin when she was shopping.
“I saw the little necklace that he had and said ‘oh my God, that’s Franklin,’ ” she said. “I went to chase after him.”
During the chase, she said Franklin went to a building on Franklin Street and hid in the bushes. She started calling him, but he was scared to come over. Eventually, he responded.
“My heart started beating fast,” Barahona said. “I was excited. I was scared because I didn’t know if I would be able to grab him.”
She was also concerned about him possibly scratching her, but said she risked it and grabbed him anyway. Barahona said Franklin did give her a hard time in the car, possibly remembering the two men who took him in their car after stealing him. Upon finding him, she said Franklin was really hungry and scared, as if he hadn’t eaten for all those days he was missing.
Barahona said the timing was coincidental as she had just gone into Pet Express last Thursday to buy food for her own cat. She took posters of the missing cat and spread them around her neighborhood on Summer Street.
“I did what was right and brought him back home where he belonged,” she said.
Franklin was gone for a week, causing distress to Mellace, his employees and the community, as the kitty regularly draws visitors.
The theft of Franklin, who has his own Facebook page, was caught on the store’s surveillance cameras, with Mellace and other store employees able to relay that information to police. Police won’t identify the two cat burglars, but one is described as a 28-year-old Danvers man and the other is a 49-year-old man from Lynn.
The Danvers man has not been arrested but he was issued a summons for theft over $250 and cruelty to animals. He will be arraigned in Lynn District Court on May 26. The Lynn man was not charged, Lynn Police Lt. Rick Donnelly said. After taking Franklin, the two had put him in their car, but released him on Alley Street after the cat scratched one of them.
“We’re all happy that Franklin’s back,” Donnelly said. “I’d say this is a unique situation. It’s not typical.”
Despite the scare, Mellace said he won’t confine Franklin inside, saying the former stray cat is happiest when he’s able to go in and out on his own. He said support from police, the dog officer and mostly the community has been amazing.
“Everybody was just very supportive of getting him back,” Mellace said. “Even though he went missing a week ago, it seemed like it was months. Nobody gave up hope here. Everybody kept going and kept looking.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at gcawley@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley