FREMONT — A cat who ran away from home more than three years ago, was reunited with his owner on Thursday afternoon thanks to microchip technology.

Dash, an orange tabby cat, had been living outdoors since 2010, when his family moved from San Jose to Fremont. Dash got scared at his new home and ran away.

But Dash, who had been microchipped as a kitten, didn’t leave Fremont.

He just posed as a stray and was lucky enough to be fed by a homeowner, who lived just 3 ½miles from the home that he left, said Fremont police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques.

For more than three years, he had been living near the Fremont Hub and ran away from a home off Thornton Avenue, she said.

But recently, the homeowner who had been feeding Dash sold her house and left Dash behind. She always thought it was an extra-hungry cat that belonged to a neighbor, Bosques said.

This week, Dash was brought to the Tri-City Animal Shelter by a new homeowner who found that the house she had just purchased came with an orange tabby cat who expected food.

Shelter staff did a quick scan and located the cat’s microchip, which showed a registration number and the name of his original family. The family and the feline were reunited at the shelter Thursday.

Contact Kristin J. Bender at kbender@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/kjbender.