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Franco the cat’s mysterious 40-kilometre journey to a Halifax bridge has a happy ending.
During the Friday morning rush hour, a commuter stopped on the A. Murray MacKay Bridge to save the calico from Elmsdale, N.S.
At approximately 7:40 a.m., Ashleigh MacDonald was driving on the bridge when she noticed traffic beginning to slow. When she saw Franco wandering across the lanes, she pulled over to make the rescue.
Video posted by drivers went viral, earning MacDonald widespread admiration for her efforts.
“I didn’t hesitate,” MacDonald told CBC’s Mainstreet on Friday. “I did exactly what I think everybody should have done.”
There wasn’t a lot of traffic at the time, she said, and motorists slowed and halted in a co-ordinated effort, clearing the way for a successful rescue.
Franco was fed and given lots of love by MacDonald’s colleagues at Scotia Fuels. The cat was then handed over to Spay Day Nova Scotia because there was nothing to identify her.
MacDonald said the cat soon earned the nickname Bridget MacKay.
On Friday evening, Spay Day Nova Scotia confirmed the cat was in good condition and the owner had been in contact.
Linda Felix, founder of the charity organization, said it’s unclear how the cat made her way from Elmsdale to Halifax.
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“My best guess would be that it hitched a ride in somebody’s vehicle,” Felix said. “And when traffic stops on the bridge in the morning or slows down, the cat must have gotten out of the vehicle on the bridge.”
Adam Wadden, Franco’s owner, picked her up on Saturday morning and brought in cat food to thank the organization for its help.
Wadden said it seemed unreal to see a post about Franco in Halifax because it’s the first time she’s left home for any length of time.
Aside from basking in the sun and strolling in the fields behind the house, Franco is typically not very adventurous, Wadden said. “She’s very much a home kitty.”
So, when he noticed Franco was absent while waking the kids around 6 a.m. on Friday, he thought she was hanging out in the backyard.
Franco was adopted 12 years ago from New Brunswick. Wadden doesn’t know Franco’s age, but believes it to be 13 or 14.
The family is still trying to find out how Franco got to Halifax.
But for now, Franco has settled back to her usual home life: hanging out with the kids in the living room and cuddling up with the dog on the chair.
“We just went for a walk with the kids in the woods,” Wadden said. “When we left the house, she was lying in the sun inside the house.”
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