Vetora Cambridge’s clinic manager Natalie Bain (right) and large animal veterinarian Philip Morrison are happy to have Chris back.
It seems thieves can’t resist fibreglass animals. They made off with Cambridge’s Chris the Calf and Auckland’s Debra the Zebra last week.
Chris usually sits outside Vetora Cambridge during the day and is taken inside at night.
But thieves spotted he was left out one night – and milked the opportunity by making off with him.
Debra is a large statue used to advertise an Auckland end of life car collection company.
The mascot was stolen from the back of a truck in Onehunga and hasn’t been seen since.
Chris, though, has been found – on a Cambridge roundabout.
Vetora Cambridge clinic manager Natalie Bain said the team had stopped bringing him inside because he was too heavy.
“He was so heavy, and we didn’t think anybody would take him because of that. You’d need a couple of people to lift him,” said Natalie.
Chris was returned home last Saturday – a security guard patrolling the town streets had found him on a roundabout.
Chris has been with the Cambridge clinic for just three months but has been with the company for 15 years and has been shared all around Vetora’s Waikato clinics.
Vetora CEO, Gavin Shepherd, said that Chris was bought to let people know that they also offer farm work.
He saw the funny side in the unplanned journey for Chris when he was returned.
“I just laughed out loud. Many of us ‘old’ people were young once upon a time and did silly things also. In the end no harm done,” said Chris.
Members of the community showed concerned when a post about Chris’s disappearance was shared on the Facebook page, The Cambridge Community Grapevine.
“I was wondering where that [Chris] went, my son would always wave at it on the way to kindy,” one member said.
Now that Chris is back, Natalie, the Cambridge clinic team and Gavin are discussing ways to prevent him from being taken again.
“We may have to put him on the roof to deter any potential burglars,” said Natalie.
