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When a family's pet hamster went missing and they found his cage ripped open by a cat, they feared the worst. But adventurous Pipsqueak had escaped the clutches of the predatory puss and run down the street to find refuge.
The Chalkleys were amazed when the brave furball turned up in the most unlikely of hideouts - a pest controller's garage.
Eight-year-old owner Callum had given up hope of seeing his hamster again when he went missing from the family home in Clifton, Herts.
But the Siberian hamster, had wriggled free from his feline abductor's claws and raced down the main road, dodging traffic and the dangerous presence of six more cats and a dog.
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'Pipsqueak is really friendly. I was really upset when he went missing and I am pleased to have him back.'
'He is a really nice man who brought Pipsqueak home to me.'
Callum, his mother Sarah and estate agent father Chris, 35, realised Pipsqueak was missing when they found a cat had broken into his cage on January 12.
They searched their home and believed poor Pipsqueak must have been killed when they could not find him.
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Mrs Chalkey, a 41-year-old healthcare assistant, said it was clear from the damage to Pipsqueak’s cage that he had been attacked by a cat.
'My husband accidentally left the inside door open, so we think a cat came through the cat flap and got him,' she said.
'There are at least half a dozen cats in the area and one of our neighbours has a dog so it is amazing that Pipsqueak survived.'
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But two days later pest controller Stuart Lazenby, 40, who lives 100 yards down the road from the family, knocked on their door with Pipsqueak in a bucket.
He said: 'I was in the garage and I heard a noise and thought it was a cat, but when I looked down I saw a little white Hamster.
'It is lucky my wife was walking past at the right time and heard two mothers talking about a hamster in the playground. And lo and behold it was Pipsqueak.
'I think I got there just in time or the cat would have eaten him.'
source: dailymail