Cat killed by car 'comes back to life' nine months after owner buries him
By James Tozer
24th March 2010
They say cats have nine lives - but no-one seriously expects them to come back from the dead.
But that is effectively what Alfie the ginger tom has done nine months after apparently being killed by a car.
Devastated owner Angelo Petrillo buried what he believed was the beloved pet's battered body after a friend spotted it by a motorway near his home, even marking the woodland grave with his name.
Today, however, he and his wife told of the astonishing phone call which was to bring him back into their lives.
Just one mystery remains: who was the pet ginger tom killed last June - and where is the family which looked after it?
Mr Petrillo, 39, and his wife Katy moved house along with their other cat, Freddie, also a ginger tom, after losing Alfie but a few days ago their former neighbours rang with scarcely credible news.
'They said a ginger cat had been trying to get into our old home, going up to the front and back doors, and they thought it was ours,' said Mr Petrillo, who works for an energy company.
'But we said Freddie was asleep with us so there must have been a mistake.
'Then they said the cat was climbing onto the conservatory and trying to get in the bedroom window, which is exactly what our two did.
'My wife and I looked at each other, and she said "Are you totally sure it was Alfie that you buried?", and I said "Yes, 100 per cent".'
The next day, however, the neighbours said the cat had remained outside all night, meowing pitifully.
By now, 35-year-old Mrs Petrillo - a manager for a wine company - was starting to have major doubts.
She returned to their old home a mile away - and instantly knew it was indeed Alfie, back from the dead.
The three-year-old had lost the collar he used to wear and had put on weight, suggesting someone else had been looking after him while he was being mistakenly mourned.
'It was just unbelievable - the cat I had buried nine months earlier, the cat we spent about a month grieving over, was back, and my wife just couldn't believe what she was seeing,' he said.
Mr Petrillo had examined the body of the cat found beside a sliproad on the M62 near their home in Milnrow, Greater Manchester last June and was convinced it was Alfie.
'He didn't have his collar, but I assumed it had come off in the impact,' he said.
Along with his 17-year-old son, Brandon, he buried him nearby before going home to break the sad news.
But nine months on they are all overjoyed at having Alfie back - everyone, that is, apart from their other cat, five-year-old Freddie.
'They're not getting on very well at the moment, but hopefully he'll settle in again,' said Mr Petrillo.
'We took Alfie to the vet and they think he probably climbed into a delivery van, got taken 30 or 40 miles away and it's taken him all that time to get back, only we'd moved.
'It's just a good job our old neighbours knew how to contact us.'
The couple are now having both cats microchipped to ensure there is no confusion if either goes missing again.
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