A New Zealand cat became an unexpected globetrotter this month after her cage was accidentally left behind in a plane’s cargo hold.
Mittens, an eight-year-old Maine Coon, was meant to travel from Christchurch to Melbourne with her owner, Margo Neas, on 13 January.
After arriving at Melbourne Airport, Neas waited for Mittens to be unloaded but was left waiting for three hours with no sign of her cat.
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It was not until later that ground staff revealed the plane had flown back to New Zealand with Mittens still on board.
“I said, how can this happen? How can this happy? Oh my God,” Neas said.
The flight, which took about seven and a half hours, was made aware of the cat on board, and the pilot turned on the heating in the cargo hold to keep her comfortable.
Neas was told a stowed wheelchair had blocked the baggage handler’s view of Mittens’s cage.
However, Mittens’s travel journey did not stop there.
The pet moving company arranged for Mittens to be returned to Christchurch, where she was rebooked on another flight to Melbourne, this time for the one-way trip she had originally planned.
Mittens was sent on three trips in 24 hours between Christchurch and Melbourne.
Despite losing some weight during the ordeal, Mittens was unharmed.
“She basically ran into my arms and gave the biggest cuddles of all time,” Neas added.
Air New Zealand has apologised for the mistake and promised to reimburse all travel costs for Mittens.
The airline also assured passengers that they would work to prevent such an incident from happening again.
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