Pet Owner Of The Year Award 2009

Mullingar based Environmental Scientist voted Pet Owner of the Year.

Late last year Lorraine Flanagan was checking out the options for immigrating to Australia with the intent of taking her Mullingar pet cat Lucy along too.  An Airline Pilot friend had advised against air freighting the cat, and recommended that for the price of a first class ticket she could take passage on a cargo ship via the Panama Canal. A keen Sailor, this idea appealed to Lorraine, so she duly checked out the options. Lorraine then thought she should get the cat acclimatised to 'travelling' and so on a regular trip home to Fermanagh, her four legged friend came too, and that's where the trouble started!

Lucy the cat, managed to get out of the Family Home in Belleek, Co.
Fermanagh and in minutes had disappeared without a trace, after a day  of searching,  there was still no sign of the cat.
Missing Cat Posters were printed, and soon the small tight knit Northern Irish Village were on the Look out for the Mullingar Cat, local school children were enthralled by the story of a cat from 'Mullingar' lost in Belleek.

After a few days the 'Mullingar Cat' was reaching celebrity status in Belleek, such was the interest in locating this Midlands Moggy!  At this point Lorraine was trying all avenues to locate her cat, and after some internet research, she learned of The HAPPY TAILS PET DETECTIVE AGENCY.
Within a matter of hours the Dublin Based firm were on their way to
Fermanagh with a sniffer dog.   An intensive search took place in the
village, but the Happy Tails Team were baffled, not a trace to be found of Lucy.  In cases like these where a cat is displaced in an area away from its home, it will stay within a particular distance.  The Happy Tails Team assured Lorraine that Lucy was still alive and it was just a matter of time before she was found.  Following strong leads, it transpired that Lucy had snuck into the underside of a car, hitched a ride across the River Erne and eventually ending up in County Donegal. The cat had in fact been spotted by locals falling out of a car.  The Happy Tails Team concentrated their search in this area and using DNA testing equipment on the road surface were satisfied that the cat was alive, and more than likely in hiding, especially given the fact that she was now doubly displaced. It was probable that the cat would go into hiding for a period of up to two weeks or more.

After 32 days, The Mullingar Cat was indeed located, a little thinner and missing some fur, she was, despite her adventure alive and well and delighted to be reunited with her owner and on the road back to Mullingar!

Lorraine is indebted to the Happy Tails Pet Detective Agency and Friends & Family from Belleek and Mullingar who never gave up looking for Lucy!  And a lesson in cat care, cats are very much home based and much prefer to stay in their familiar surroundings!  A lesson in human nature, don't give up too easily!

The Happy Tails Pet Detective Team announced Lorraine as Pet Owner of the year. “Our Happy Tails Team chose Lorraine as the winner as her dedication and commitment to her cat no matter what the outcome was just outstanding.” Robert Kenny, director of Happy Tails Pet Detective Agency states. “Lucies and Lorraines story give hope to many pet owners who are still waiting news on their missing pets and it is also our philosophy never to give up hope, a lost pet is never a lost cause.”