Losing a beloved family pet can be a very distressing experience, even more so when you don’t have the ability to search for your animal companion yourself. One family had the misfortune of their black cat going missing at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts after a transatlantic flight. Thankfully, the cat — named Rowdy — seems to have had a fine time living at Logan, and was caught by airport staff on Wednesday and reunited with her family.
In June, a military family was moving back to the United States after 15 years stationed in Germany. Patty Sahli told NBC Boston that she was awaiting the arrival of a Lufthansa flight carrying her husband and Rowdy, her four-year-old black cat. After the flight landed, Rowdy somehow escaped her kennel and ran away before the ground crew could catch her. Rowdy was occasionally spotted around the airport over the next couple of weeks, but no one was able to catch her. With the assistance of the Animal Rescue League of Boston, crews at Logan Airport finally trapped the elusive black cat.
After being lost at Logan for 3 weeks, we are happy to report Rowdy the cat has been found! 🐈 She’s happy, healthy and will be re-united with her family later today. pic.twitter.com/GbUAis0WHa
— Boston Logan International Airport (@BostonLogan) July 13, 2022
Rowdy was caught in Terminal E, but it seems she allowed herself to be captured. Logan Airport operator Massport stated in a release:
“True to her name, this frisky feline escaped her kitty kennel upon her Lufthansa flight’s arrival on June 24 and had been roaming the airport ever since. Whether out of fatigue or hunger we’ll never know, but this morning she finally let herself be caught.”
Aside from being hungry, the Animal Rescue League reported that Rowdy is in good health. Patty Sahli is scheduled to be reunited with her cat this weekend.
The U.S. Department of Transportation requires all commercial carriers registered in the United States to report the loss, injury or death of any household pet during the course of its scheduled domestic and international passenger service. Among the more than 256,000 household pets transported by American-registered air carriers in 2021, seven animals died and 14 were injured. Impressively, in 2021, no animal was reported to have run away without later being found. We can add Rowdy to the list of temporarily-missing pets who were successfully reunited with their families.