The New Zealand city of Wellington Mittens, a coon cat from Maine, made three trips in a single day between New Zealand and Australia when her cage was left in the cargo hold of a plane this month.
Mittens, 8, was booked for one-way travel with her family from Christchurch, New Zealand, to their new home in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 13. On Wednesday, however, owner Margo Neas reported that she had been waiting for Mittens to be unloaded from the plane’s freight compartment for three hours without seeing the cat.
At that point, Neas was informed by ground crew that Mittens was still on board and the plane had returned to New Zealand. Approximately 7.5 hours are spent in the air on the way back.
“How can this happen?” I asked. How is this possible? Neas exclaimed, “Oh my God.”
The Air New Zealand pilot was told of the extra passenger during the flight and turned on the heating in the cargo hold to keep Mittens comfortable, she added. Neas was informed that a luggage handler’s view of Mitten’s cage was blocked by a wheelchair that was stowed.
We didn’t have relatives, therefore we weren’t whole, so it wasn’t a good start to our new life in Melbourne, she added.
However, the story ended happily. When Mittens returned to Christchurch, the pet relocation firm Neas had used to arrange her travel met her and made sure she was on the plane for another one-way flight to Melbourne.
Mittens was unhurt, but he had lost weight.
She basically just ran into my arms and just snuggled up in here and just did the biggest cuddles of all time, Neas said. It was just such a relief.
According to a statement from the airline, Air New Zealand has expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and will cover all of Mittens’ travel expenses.
Spokesman Alisha Armstrong stated, “We’ll work closely with our ground handler in Melbourne to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Meanwhile Mittens, not usually an affectionate pet, is the cuddliest she s ever been, Neas said.
Right now, the cat receives all the attention she desires since we are so incredibly happy to have her back.