He traveled 19 kilometers to return home to his family in North Carolina, United States. He thought he was safe and secure by now, but for Toby, the seven-year-old cat protagonist of this story, his bad adventures weren't over yet. In fact, his owners had not only taken him away the first time, giving him away to other people, in an unknown place, but when he returned, they weren't happy at all. And they decided to abandon Toby in a shelter, where they asked volunteers to give him the lethal injection.
A request that outraged those who, in that shelter, take care of and save the many, too many, animals that are abandoned and condemned to a life of straying every day. For this reason, the shelter has not only denied euthanasia, but has also launched a social campaign to give the cat a new family. “If he is willing to walk 19 kilometers, will you be able to walk just one to save thousands of animals like Toby?” is the slogan chosen by the volunteers to raise public awareness and published on Facebook on their official page. And the comments were not lacking: "In his eyes you can see all the disappointment for the abandonment, this breaks my heart" writes a user, while another adds: "Whoever abandoned him should no longer have animals" and there are those who ask to know the family name.
The campaign was successful and the happy ending came for Toby: a new family arrived at the shelter, happy to adopt him. Now the cat has two new human parents and even a sibling, another cat. His past life is now just a bad memory. And his new Instagram account, “a cat named Toby,” already has over 11 followers.
