A Utah family was reunited with their missing cat after it was found a week later and hundreds of miles away — inside an Amazon box that had been shipped to California.
Galena the cat disappeared on April 10, confounding her owners who combed their Utah residence for the beloved pet and plastered flyers throughout their neighborhood, to no avail.
“Galena is a huge emotional support to me and has helped me get through many health challenges over the past six years,” owner Carrie Clark told KSL-TV. “The anxiety and stress of not knowing what happened to her was excruciating.”
Courtesy of Carrie Clark
Carrie Clark, left, with Brandy, the Amazon employee who found her cat. (Courtesy of Carrie Clark)
A week later came “the most insanely amazing news,” Clark said. It was a vet calling to say Galena was 650 miles away, in Riverside, near Los Angeles.
She didn’t believe it at first. Then Clark and husband Matt Clark “broke down upon realizing” that the box-loving feline must have jumped into the large package they were returning several pairs of shoes in, she told KSL.
An Amazon warehouse worker found the cat when she opened the box to process its contents.
A few lucky breaks kept the kitty from cashing in on any of her nine lives during the journey. For one, the box Galena was shipped in split down one side, allowing her to breathe. Then at the Amazon warehouse where she ended up, the box was opened by a worker whose hobby was rescuing cats. She knew how to take care of the fearful feline and got her to a vet.
Galena was also microchipped, making identification easy. The scan generated an immediate text message to Clark, followed by a phone call from the vet.
Courtesy of Carrie Clark
The return box Galena was accidentally shipped in. (Courtesy of Carrie Clark)
Clark and her husband flew to Los Angeles the next day to retrieve their furry friend, who had lost some weight and was a bit dehydrated after six days without food or water, but was otherwise fine. Galena has since recovered.
“We’re in awe of all the tender mercies that have taken place,” Carrie Clark wrote in the Facebook group Utah County Lost & Found PETS. “It’s a total miracle!!”