“I miss him always being right there to comfort me. He really means a lot to me and I love him more than anything.”
– 12 year old Aaliyah Laguna, on her missing cat, Mikey
Mikey is the latest cat to make the news after going missing at an airport after getting out of his secure crate during baggage handling.
KGTV Channel 10 News reports today that the 5 year old orange and white cat has been on the loose at San Diego International Airport in California since apparently escaping his carrier Friday evening after Allain and Lucinda Armean dropped him off at the Delta cargo office in advance of a flight to Baltimore, where he was to reunited with their 12 year old niece, Aaliyah Laguna.
Allain told Channel 10 his wife got a call from Delta about an hour after the couple left Mikey with the airline, saying he’d gotten out of his carrier and was wandering around on the tarmac.
“My heart dropped, I just said ‘where is my cat, what happened?’ ‘He opened the cage,’ that’s what they said, he opened the cage,” Lucinda said.
“I miss him always being right there to comfort me. He really means a lot to me and I love him more than anything,” Aaliyah told Channel 10 via Skype, adding that she is feeling devastated and scared for her missing cat.
“We let our niece down, I feel like it’s horrible, we don’t know where he is, we don’t know if he’s ok,” Lucinda said.
The Armeans say the airline dropped the ball by not affixing zip ties to the crate. They have been at the airport handing out flyers and have set out traps.
A Delta spokesman said the airline is aware of the situation and is working with the family to find Mikey.
Watch the Channel 10 report on the story:
Airports can ban small bottles containing harmless liquid but can’t keep in check the safety of people’s pets….
I think it’s the baggage handlers. I’ve seen footage where they throw people’s luggage around in a really disrespectful manner and think its a huge joke. Its only one step further to do the same to a helpless animal in a carrrier. I could be wrong as maybe it is done differently, but there should be cctv and enquiries each and every time this happens as its just not good enough.
Looks like they shipped the cat on a different flight if it was lost at Delta Cargo.
I’ve been lucky in that the baggage handlers were OK, and airline staff were on the ball. TSA agents are another story. I’m glad O’Hare built rooms where people can go with their pets while those bozos swab the cage. I took two cats with me and darn near had one loose in the terminal while the slowest-moving TSA guy they could find dicked around with checking the cages. The airport staff were very competent and accommodating before and after that point.
Best airlines for unattended pets are Lufthansa and KLM.
maybe a group of locals should get together and try to find Micky.