By JESSE GRAHAM
CARA the missing foal has been returned home to an anxious owner, following a massive response from members of the public.
The missing foal was returned on Friday 24 July, after an online campaign to find Cara began following her disappearance on Wednesday 8 July.
Distressed owner Kate Paton reported her missing after the horse did not answer her calls, and feared she had run away or been taken.
She said she had contacted police about the disappearance, but was told by officers that they could not help her.
“This has been one of the disillusioning things – when you need to help, to find you can’t get it,” she said.
Contacting neighbours, residents and media outlets in the following weeks, Ms Paton’s calls sparked a massive online response, with posts about the missing foal being shared hundreds of times over on social media sites.
Ms Paton told the Mail the whole ordeal had been “a really bad situation”, but was glad to see Cara back home, safe-and-sound.
Without divulging too many details, Ms Paton said the horse had been taken from her property and later returned.
Declining to comment further on the nature of Cara’s disappearance, Ms Paton praised the “incredible” response online, and thanked everyone who helped to spread the word and continue the search.
“The main thing is the people that have been helping me – and I want to thank everyone,” she said.
“It was incredible, the people that set up Facebook sites and everything trying to find her, and she’s just a little nine-month-old – she’s not a thoroughbred or anything, she’s just a little foal.
“It was really special when people came to see her last weekend.”
What was more special, Ms Paton said, was the reunion between Cara and her foster mother, another horse on her property.
“When I finally led her up to her yard, and her foster mother – a mare that a friend of mine gave me, to teach her to be a horse, because Cara thinks she’s a human – the reunion between them both was beautiful.”
After nearly three weeks missing from home, Cara was excited to be home, running around with her friends.
The Mail has contacted Victoria Police’s Media Department in regards to Ms Paton’s claims, and asked whether police are able to get involved in missing animal cases.
