The cat wasn’t let out of the bag here, but out of the suitcase.
Air travelers often carry strange things in their luggage. But what security officials discovered in a suitcase at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was not what they saw.
When the black trolley for the trip from New York to Orlando (Florida) ran down the security conveyor belt, the employees of the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) were amazed at the life-size outline of a cat visible on the X-ray screen.
When they carefully opened it, they discovered that a red-brown, lively house cat had actually made itself comfortable in the suitcase next to flip-flops, clothes and plastic bottles, reports „CNN“.
The kitty had obviously survived the cramped transport to the control conveyor belt without any problems. The shocked security staff immediately located the suitcase owner and he was at least as surprised! As it turned out, the cat named “Smell” wasn’t even his own, but his roommate’s.
The animal apparently climbed into the suitcase unnoticed and lay down under the clothes to sleep there. When the man closed the luggage on the day of departure, some animal hair was even sticking out of the zipper, but he didn’t notice it.
And “Smell” apparently didn’t make a meow either, so that the traveler with the cat in the suitcase was able to get to the baggage check at the airport.
There was even cat hair sticking out of the zipper
While they deal with everything from unauthorized firearms to illegal souvenirs on a daily basis, “it’s rare to find a live animal in a checked bag,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein told CNN.
After all the excitement, cat “Smell” was finally picked up by her happy owner at the airport. Her roommate had to rebook his flight for the next day. He will probably check the suitcase several times in the future.
However, the animal interlude had no legal consequences. The TSA also refrained from engaging animal protection, Farbstein said. She advises cat owners to pack suitcases in separate rooms, or to close the suitcase securely so that the cats cannot hide in it and unintentionally travel with them.