Missing house cat mistaken for bobcat, prompts evacuation of Pennsylvania high school

SCRANTON, Pa. — A missing house cat, believed at first glance to be a bobcat, prompted the evacuation of a Pennsylvania high school on Tuesday.

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Surveillance video at West Scranton High School showed what looked like a bobcat in the cafeteria, WNEP reported.

“When we notified animal control they identified it as a bobcat and called the game commision,” principal Robert Deluca said on social media. “Game commission also confirmed it to be a bobcat and that was when we dismissed everyone from the building.”

Thinking a big cat was stalking the hallways, administrators sent students home early and brought in the Game Commission to search for the animal.

After two hours, they found the feline caught in a trap in the attic. It was no bobcat, although it looked similar.

“It looks, I mean, identical. (It has) the colors of a bobcat; it’s missing a tail,” Game Warden Jon Bowman told WPVI. “So just (to) err on the side of caution, we wanted to make sure all the students are safe and staff are safe.”

The cat is a Clouded Jack, an exotic breed that looks like a bobcat. Wildlife officials took the cat to the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter, where volunteers found out the cat had a microchip and had been missing for three months.

The cat, named Kakashi, was reunited with his family, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported.

“Had us for a little bit of a run around town, trying to follow up leads and stuff, and then behold, he’s at West (Scranton High School),” owner Sheanine Johnson said. “So, sorry guys.”

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