A new field of research would open up. Pets who find their owners If pigeons can indeed find their home and their companions after the loft has been moved far away, then a series of strange but persistent stories about pets will be seen in a new light. Such stories have been told for centuries. For example, in the sixteenth century, a greyhound named Cesar was said to have followed his master from Switzerland to Paris, setting off three days after his master had left by coach. In an even more heroic example of canine devotion, we are told that during the First World War a British dog named Prince found his way across the English Channel to his master's side at the battlefront in France.
Most modern cases come to light through reports in local newspapers.
For example, when a family was leaving California for a new home in Oklahoma, their Persian cat, Sugar, jumped out ofthe car, stayed a few days with neighbors, and then disappeared. It turned up a year later at the family's new home in Oklahoma, having traveled well over 1000 miles through unfamiliar territory. Identity was established by the collar which Mr. Doolen had bought in Aurora and had cut down to Tony's size. A right-angled notch had been cut for an extra hole. One dark, snowy night about a week later, the boy heard a fluttering at the window of his hospital room.