Airports play cat and mouse to find missing kitty

NEW DELHI: There was a big shock for an air passenger travelling from Delhi to Mumbai with her three kittens. Upon alighting at Mumbai airport, she found two of the feline pets in their cages, but the third was missing. Air India launched a hunt for the animal in both the airports in Delhi and Mumbai, but there hasn’t been any good news for the pet owner till date.
In a post on social media on Tuesday, a woman stated that a fellow passenger had lost her seven-month-old kitten and alleged this was because of mishandling by Air India and the Indira Gandhi International Airport cargo team. The woman put the date and time of the loss as Tuesday 10am at Delhi airport.
When contacted, Air India claimed that the incident had actually happened a week ago, not on Tuesday. The airline agreed the passenger was travelling from Delhi to Mumbai, and as per the pet policy of most airlines, the journey of the kitten was booked in advance and it was to be transported in a cage as part of the regular cargo. However, the airport staff returned with a broken cage in Mumbai, and was unable to locate the cat on the craft or the airport premises.
The Air India spokesperson said the passenger was travelling with three cats, but on landing in Mumbai found only two in their cages. “It’s an unfortunate incident and we are cooperating with the passenger,” the spokesperson said. “We have been in touch with her and have launched a massive search for the kitten in both the airports. Our search will continue until the animal is located.”
Denying that the airline staff had mishandled the transport of the pet animal, the AI spokesperson added, “This is a rare and unfortunate case. We have successfully transported thousands of pets each day and continue to do so with the utmost care. We have provided complete support to the kitten owner and are helping her in every way to try and locate her pet.”
A Delhi airport official explained that the cat could have escaped at the cargo terminal during the cargo transfer process. Otherwise, he said, it was difficult for such animals to escape on the airport premises. “We have no such reports of a cat escaping at the Delhi airport,” the official maintained. “If such a thing did happen, it likely occurred during the cargo transportation process.”