Cat is Out of the Bag

[Emancipation 2]

Cat is out of the bag on Saint John Airport security

Feline that slipped into suitcase makes it all the way to Ontario

Last Updated: Wednesday, May 2, 2007 | 4:16 PM AT

CBC News

A New Brunswick woman is wondering how she made it through Saint John Airport security and all the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., with a live cat in her suitcase.

Mary Martell discovered Ginger, the family pet, in her luggage after a two-hour plane ride to Toronto and an hour's drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The cat apparently snuck into a bag while Martell was packing.

Martell said her bag was scanned at the airport, but she was not stopped.

"They had asked me, when they put … the luggage through the X-ray, whether I had a turkey," Martell said.

"[security] kept going back and forth with [the suitcase]," Martell said. "I was adamant. 'Look, I have no turkey.'"

The bag was sent on and loaded into the cargo bay of the airplane. Ginger, 3, was discovered when Martell opened her suitcase in her hotel room.

Security workers at the Saint John Airport would not comment to CBC reporters, referring questions to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.

A spokeswoman with the authority said the incident would be investigated.

Air Canada agreed to let the cat fly home for free in a proper pet container.

Martell said Ginger is doing fine

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/sto...towawaycat.html

A turkey?? C'mon.. A TURKEY?

[eau_xplain 2]

LOL!!

Poor kitty though. Have you seen how those baggage handlers toss checked in luggage around?

[mawilson 2,133]

St Johns is in Newfoundland? That's a LONG way to go for a little kitty

[Ladylethal 12]

Wow! And if they suspected something like a turkey or another animal shouldn't they have opened the luggage? Even if it was dead turkey? A turkey would have to be transported in appropriate compartment so it wouldn't go spoiled.

[Jasman0717 9]

Hummmm

[almaty 19]

that poor #####

[Alex+R 0]

I can totally see how that would happen, but not how they would have not figured it out...

[Mags 112]

I agree, Alex. I mean my cats climb into my bags but I still see them there, would hear them meow and scratch at the bag. How many cats do you know who would lay there quietly in the bag after being zipped in?

That or the owner was completely unobservant and the airport staff lax in security. Oh, ok...don't answer that!

[Emancipation 2]

Yeah that's the part that is halarious to me.. just by INSISTING that it wasn't a turkey the woman convinced security that she didn't have a turkey in her bag.. funny stuff really.. So glad it ended well.. the poor cat though.. would need some good drugs on the flight back me thinks!