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HERCULES

the Cat

Hercules the cat was in the habit of sneaking into a garage owned by Jadwiga Drozdek, who left food there for her own six cats. Hercules would guzzle their food until one day he’d become so fat he got wedged fast in the catflap. Jadwiga – who had seen him in the garage before but not, until then, managed to catch him – took 20lb Hercules, who seemed to be a stray, to an animal sanctuary.

The story of Hercules’s criminal exploits and eventual capture made the television news.

The story of Hercules’s criminal exploits and eventual capture made the television news. Geoff Earnest saw the story – and recognised Hercules as his own cat, who had gone missing six months previously. Geoff – who has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that leads to breathing problems – had adopted Hercules four years before.

After Hercules got stuck in the catflap, he and Geoff were reunited at the animal sanctuary.

As Geoff’s illness had got worse, Hercules would lie on his stomach and play with his oxygen tubes. But until Hercules appeared on the news, Geoff hadn’t seen him since he went into hospital for a lung transplant and had left Hercules to be looked after by a house-sitter. Hercules had somehow made a journey from the American city of Portland, where Geoff lives, to neighbouring Gresham, where Jadwiga lives. After Hercules got stuck in the catflap, he and Geoff were reunited at the animal sanctuary – and that story made the news too.