Socks
Mary O’Neill, President, Pet Companions Club of PebbleCreek
Socks the cat went missing on Nov. 5, 2025, from his home near N. 169th Ave and W. Sheridan St. Sock’s owner Deb has asked me to share his story in the hopes of saving another pet.
The Pet Companions Club and Deb searched for Socks. We set traps at his home for two weeks. Deb searched daily for him for weeks, to no avail. We posted him as missing to the egroup, to Facebook, the Pro Shop at Tuscany Falls, and the Patrol office. We never received a single report of a sighting, so we were lost as to where to search for him.
An Apple AirTag is a device about one inch in diameter, like a thick button. It can be attached to a dog’s collar like a tag or embedded into a special collar for your cat. Once paired with your phone, you can track your pet to any location. You can also share the tracking information with other people who are helping you to search for your lost pet. And when you get close enough, you can cause the AirTag to play a sound, which will lead you right to it.
Had Socks had an AirTag on his collar, we would have been able to track and rescue him. Poor Socks was on the run for nine long weeks. He was eventually found when he approached the front door of a house at PebbleCreek, but 1.3 miles from his home. Most cats will stay within about two blocks of home, so this was very unexpected. He was suffering from starvation, and he collapsed and died there on the front walk. We suspect that he was accidentally locked in someone’s garage when they left for the Christmas holidays. By the time they were back home and opened the door, he was too weak to hunt for himself. If you ever see or hear a cat in your garage, or see one running out of your garage, please don’t assume that they are okay. Please call us.
Deb has been distraught with grief, and she would like to spare other pet owners from what she has been through. If you remember the extensive search last year for Daisy, the long-haired chihuahua that was never found, an AirTag on Daisy’s collar would have also led us right to her.
Please consider buying an AirTag for your pet’s collar, as it may save their life if they accidentally get out one day.