A LONG-LOST cat has been reunited with its owner in Scotland after being found at a North Sea oil rig in a shipping container, said the Scottish SPCA animal charity yesterday.

The one-eyed black cat is found at an oil rig off the port of Peterhead, on the coast of Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland, it added.

The day after workers on the rig contacted the charity, the cat is flown back by helicopter.

“We have no idea how the cat ended up there, but we attended the heliport this morning to collect him,” said rescue officer Aimee Findlay.

The cat has spent five years living as a stray around the port area in Peterhead, where staff at the nearby prison fed him and he is known as “One-eyed Joe”.

It seems likely that he somehow crept into a shipping container at the port and found himself heading out to the oil rig.

However, when a veterinarian checked him for a chip, it turns out that the seemingly stray cat has an owner waiting for him.

It emerged that “his real name is Dexter and he has been missing for five years”, said the animal charity.

It was able to contact his owner and return the cat.

“We are so glad that he was well-looked after for the time he was missing, but even more delighted to be able to reunite him with his original owner thanks to his microchip being up to date.” – AFP, April 23, 2022.