WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Mittens, a Maine Coon cat, became an accidental jet setter this month when his cage was neglected in the cargo hold of a plane and made three flights between New Zealand and Australia in 24 hours. visited
Mittens, 8, was booked on Jan. 13 for a one-way trip with his family from Christchurch, New Zealand, to his new home in Melbourne, Australia. But owner Margo Ness said Wednesday as she waited for the mittens to be dropped off. In the cargo area of the plane, three hours passed with no sign of the cat.
It was then that the ground crew told NICE that the plane had returned to New Zealand – with Mittens still on board. The return journey takes about 7.5 hours in the air.
“I said, how could this be? How could this be? Oh my God,” Nias said.
He added that the Air New Zealand pilot had been informed of the extra passenger during the flight and had turned on the heating in the cargo hold to keep the mittens comfortable. A stowed wheelchair obscured the baggage handler’s view of Mittens’ cage, Ness was told.
“It wasn’t a great start to our new life in Melbourne because we didn’t have a family, we weren’t whole,” he said.
But the story had a happy ending. The pet moving company that arranged Neas Mittens’ trip met the cat on her way back to Christchurch and made sure she got back on the plane for another trip to Melbourne – this time alone. a way
Mittens had lost weight but was otherwise unharmed.
“She basically just ran into my arms and just crawled up here and just had the biggest grunt ever,” Ness said. “It was just such a relief.”
In a statement, the airline said Air New Zealand would cover all expenses associated with Mittens’ travel and apologized for the inconvenience.
“We will work closely with our ground handlers in Melbourne to ensure this does not happen again,” spokeswoman Alisha Armstrong said.
Meanwhile, Mittens, not usually a loving pet, “she’s the cutest ever,” Ness said.
“Billy gets as much attention as she wants right now because we’re completely and utterly relieved to have her back.”
