If Jack Daniels could talk, he could probably explain everything.

But alas, Jack can only meow. So it remains a mystery as to how the nearly blind black cat, abducted from the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals a year ago, ended up on the streets of Harlem last week.

Tuesday morning, Jack Daniels' journeys brought him back to San Francisco, courtesy of JetBlue and a cat-loving book designer from Brooklyn named LeeAnn Falciani.

"He's this superstar cat," said Falciani, who took a week off work to escort Jack Daniels from New York's animal shelter to San Francisco's SPCA. "He's wonderful. I'm actually kind of sad right now to say goodbye."

Jack Daniels' saga began in May 2009, when San Francisco animal control officers brought him and his brother, Jim Beam, to the SPCA for adoption. Jack Daniels was suffering from scarred corneas because of a viral infection, a common condition among kittens, SPCA veterinarian and interim co-president Jennifer Scarlett said.

With his milky gray eyes, Jack Daniels relied heavily on his brother, who acted as a sort of seeing-eye cat, Scarlett said. SPCA staff intended for the brothers to be adopted together.

But a week after the pair were put up for adoption, Jack Daniels vanished from his enclosure. Someone had catnapped him.

"How or why that happened, I can't say," said SPCA spokeswoman Jennifer Lu. "But we had the police involved, volunteers looking for him. We were very worried."

Jack Daniels seemed lost forever. Jim Beam meanwhile, was adopted by a nice San Francisco family, Lu said.

But on Aug. 4, New York City animal control officers spied a nearly blind, apparently homeless, black cat ambling along 110th Street, and they brought him to the city's nearby animal shelter. Staff scanned his microchip and contacted the registered owner: the San Francisco SPCA.

"That shelter is so busy. To think that someone took the time to track us down ... I'm actually very moved by it," Scarlett said. "When you think of all the horrible things that happen in the world, it's such a beautiful thing to see so many people come together for a little black cat."

The next hurdle was how to return him to San Francisco. An SPCA volunteer e-mailed Dr. Jennifer Gabriele, a veterinarian who formerly worked for the San Francisco SPCA but has since relocated to New York, asking if she knew anyone who was flying to San Francisco and could transport Jack Daniels.

Enter Falciani, who happened to be on the phone with Gabriele, her cats' vet, when Gabriele received the e-mail.

"She told me the story, and I said, 'Sure, I can go,' " Falciani said.

So Falciani took time off work to bail Jack Daniels out of New York's animal shelter and took him in a cat carrier by subway to her home in Brooklyn. After two nights there, he spent the weekend at Gabriele's vet clinic, then, with Falciani as an escort, hopped a free JetBlue flight to SFO.

"He's in great shape. He likes to snuggle and make muffins (knead his paws)," Scarlett said. "Whoever had him obviously kept him indoors. He's very affectionate and friendly."

It's possible Jack Daniels has an owner in New York who's looking for him now, Scarlett said. But unless someone comes forward, Jack Daniels will go up for adoption - again - at the San Francisco SPCA within a day or two.

Falciani, meanwhile, is enjoying three free nights in San Francisco, courtesy of Kimpton Hotels.

"It made me sad to say goodbye to Jack Daniels. You get attached very quickly," she said. "Although it's great to be in San Francisco, this will fly by, as most fun things do."