.
The internet was abuzz after an airline passenger at LAX sent his cat through the x-ray machine Wednesday.
Transportation Security Administration officers saw the x-ray image of the cat at Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday afternoon when the scanning machine revealed the passenger’s pet cat inside his bag.
The JetBlue passenger placed his bag, which was not a pet carrier, through an X-ray machine in Terminal 3, according to LAX Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Belinda Nettles.
TSA officers removed the cat from the bag and say it was harmed by the machine.
The passenger told a TSA supervisor that he did not know animals were not supposed to be placed through the X-ray machines, Nettles said.
Onlookers in line also got the impression the man meant no harm and was not attempting to deceive authorities, had his cat in the bag for safety, and thought he was obligated to run the bag through the machine.
Officers accepted that the incident was accidental and allowed the man and his cat to board their flight to New York.
Fellow passenger Sara Benincasa stood ahead of the man in line and posted about the incident at Twitter, writing across several messages:
“Standing in front of guy at TSA. I hand him a bin. I turn away and go through the scanner. I hear screams. HE PUT HIS CAT IN THE BIN.”
“I have seen people pulled out of the TSA line for knives. Guns. I have never seen the rage of the TSA when dude just put his cat in the XRay.”
“Well, we all learned a lot today. The chief lesson is this: don’t put your cat through an X-Ray scanner at the airport.”
After a shitstorm erupted over the incident, Sara wrote: “I actually felt bad for the guy who put the cat through the X-Ray, thereby inventing #XRayCat. I think he thought it was proper procedure.”
“I feel bad for #XRayCat man and would never want him to be publicly identified or shamed. He made a mistake. I was just blown away.”
Once news of the incident began to spread online, similar past incidents came to light.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Standing in front of guy at TSA. I hand him a bin. I turn away and go through the scanner. I hear screams. HE PUT HIS CAT IN THE BIN.
— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) July 1, 2015
“TSA officers removed the cat from the bag and say it was harmed by the machine.”
Is this a typo?
I was wondering the same thing. But, how would they know the poor cat was “not” harmed. I think a vet visit is a must!