Fort St. Johns locals hope to reunite family in U.S. with cat rescued after months lost in northern B.C. wilderness

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A pair of Fort St. John locals are looking to travel all the way to Winnipeg to reunite a U.S. family with their cat that went missing in northeast B.C. five months ago. 

Shadow first went missing back in July when Jeremy Barton and his family were travelling down the Alaska Highway. 

Fort St John locals – Christine Sutherland and Bruce Kosugi – were first introduced to Shadow during their time at the Liard Hot Springs. 

Sutherland said: “Jeremy actually went back and looked for him, but they put out a ton of social media and pictures. There were no indicators that people down the highway saw him or anything.”

How he survived all this time is still a mystery. 

Hearing about the cat’s story from the park operators, the pair decided to reunite the cat with the Barton family in Oklahoma City. 

“We made arrangements with the owner. We had a couple of versions. He was going to drive up from Oklahoma to Winnipeg, and I was going to fly to Winnipeg with the cat or fly down to Oklahoma City,” Christine said, sharing that they are trying to figure out how to make it affordable. 

Jeremy and especially his two sons are elated. Shadow has been found and is working towards bringing him home.

When asked about his reaction to finding out about his cat, Jeremy said: “Surprise, mostly, okay, you know, and then kind of happy, because I kind of blamed myself for losing my cat.”

Jeremy added his sons are even ready to forgo Christmas gifts if it helps get Shadow home. 

When asked what made her want to volunteer and help, Christine credited this to her being a Rotarian.

“I’m a second-generation Rotarian. I’ll just blame it on that. My dad and mom, they were always doing things all the time that were for the community. So it’s just a family, parental upbringing,” she said.

Christine and Bruce are asking the Fort St John community for help with either flying or driving Shadow down to Winnipeg. You can contact Christine at csuther@netidea.com.