Ashley Anderson.... was volunteering in Greece when the family came ashore
But in the chaos of the landing, the cat ...panicked and fled
It turned up days later, after the family had been moved to a holding centre
Ms Anderson has spent £480 flying the cat to an temporary home in Berlin
She is trying to track down and reunite him with his original owners
Kunkush's [as his name turned out to be] return to his family was no simple affair — it required help from dozens of do-gooders from all over the world and the help of a dedicated Facebook group to publicize the search. His journey began when the mother and five children, fled Iraq last year, bringing along their beloved family cat.
They eventually made their way to the Mediterranean and crossed to the Greek island of Lesbos aboard a crowded boat in an attempt to build a new life in Europe. Kunkush was right there with them, carried in a small basket. But soon after they landed on the shore, the frightened cat hopped out of the basket and ran away. The family and local volunteers looked for several hours, but had no luck finding him. Eventually, the family had to move on to a registration camp without him, and then like thousands of others, they continued on.
But the cat returned a week later, and was found by volunteer workers who remembered that the family had lost him. They named him Dias, the modern Greek name for the god Zeus, and took him in. They were sure the family was further along on their journey into Europe. The crew tried doggedly to hunt down the cat's owner, plastering reception centers with posters of the cat, spreading the information through a network of aid workers and providing contact details so the family could reach them.
All of the searching finally came to an end on Feb. 14, when volunteers behind the reunion Facebook page shared the exciting news that the family had been found. An Iraqi family in Norway, who wished to remain anonymous, had seen the Facebook page and reached out to connect the cat with his owners.
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