Cat that hopped a ride in delivery van tracked down by big-hearted cop

Sandra McCulloch / Times Colonist
August 2, 2013

Victoria police Sgt. Byron Edwards cradles Daisy the tabby cat, back with her owner, Grant Harbar.  Photograph by: DARREN STONE, Times Colonist 

A tabby cat is recovering at home in Esquimalt after a wild adventure that included a tour of Greater Victoria, a couple of nights in the woods and a rescue by a Victoria police sergeant who has a soft place in his heart for cats.

Daisy, 16, rarely goes beyond the driveway of her Mesher Place home, said Danette Harbar, who owns the cat with her 22-year-old son, Grant.

But last Friday, Daisy’s curiosity got the best of her and she hopped into the back of a Lansdowne Appliance van parked partly in Harbar’s driveway, as it made a delivery next door.

When the crew later spotted Daisy, they assumed she got on board at their last delivery point near Mount Douglas, said business owner Joe Lessard. So the crew took Daisy back to the Mount Doug area and released her.

The idea of taking the cat to the SPCA was dismissed for fear the animal would be euthanized, Lessard said, something SPCA staff say would not have happened.

Meanwhile, Danette Harbar, who had been in Campbell River for a wedding, returned home Saturday to find Daisy was missing.

She heard from neighbours about the delivery next door and called Lansdowne. She was upset to hear Daisy had been released across town.

“They virtually just dumped her,” Harbar said.

She called Victoria police Sunday and, as luck would have it, Sgt. Byron Edwards, a huge cat lover, was on duty and took an immediate interest in the case.

He has his own elderly cat at home — 17-year-old Bambino, who takes medication for cancer, kidney issues and heart disease.

Edwards questioned the delivery staff and got a description of the area in Saanich where Daisy was left. In his search, he knocked on the door of a house where no one was home. He walked to the backyard and called Daisy’s name.

There was an immediate meow in response, “and she poked her head out of the bushes,” he said.
“It was a huge reward. I deal with a lot of conflict in my job and to take on a file like this and have Daisy appear almost instantaneously … it was a massive relief.”

Grant Harbar and Edwards helped coax Daisy out of her spot.

Edwards said he was prepared to stay on the case even after his shift to see Daisy reunited with her family.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Harbar said of the officer’s efforts.

Erika Paul of the SPCA called Edwards’ efforts “exemplary,” and said the cruelty section will be following up on the case, as is Victoria police.

Lessard said his company now has a policy that cats found in its vehicles will be taken to the SPCA.
“The only good thing that happened from all this is she was reunited with her cat. Now, people will be able to learn from this,” Lessard said.

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