'Tigger' back home, neighbors relieved

RIVERHEAD, N.Y., April 9 (UPI) -- An exotic cat that briefly scared residents of Long Island's Suffolk County is back in his suburban home, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

The 40-pound, $7,000 African cat, known as Tigger, was being watched by pet sitter Carol Herbst when he turned up missing Wednesday.

A posse of Suffolk County deputies and area volunteers hunted the cat from Wednesday night until Thursday when Tigger, who looks like a cross between a tiger and a leopard, jumped his owner's fence to get home by himself.

"It was a hell of a night," said Chief Roy Gross of the Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "We searched for it. We used the dog on it to try to pick up the scent. We left the basement window open. We left a trap out there."

Only Herbst was hurt in the ordeal, suffering minor bites on both hands from an ill-advised attempt to capture the animal without gloves. She later emerged from a hospital with bandages on both hands and a tetanus shot.

"It was a happy ending," said Herbst, who was watching Tigger while his owners were in Florida.