Last Friday, Jackie Lake experienced a stomach-churning realization that no pet owner wants to make. Her beloved cat, Baloo, was missing.
Lake and her family spent the whole weekend searching the neighbourhood. They patrolled the nearby woods, peered under decks and knocked on dozens of doors. There was no sign of the cat.
鈥淚t was a horrible feeling,鈥� Lake told CTV Atlantic.
That feeling lasted until Monday, when Lake received an unusual phone call. It was a woman calling from Purolator in Montreal.
鈥淪he paused and said, 鈥楽o, you didn鈥檛 ship a cat?鈥欌�� Lake recalled.
That鈥檚 when the pieces of the puzzle began falling into place. Lake had recently packaged up several boxes filled with car tire rims. She taped up the boxes and shipped them via Purolator to a friend in Calgary.
鈥淢y first question was: Is he alive? Like, did I kill my cat?鈥� she said.
No, Baloo was alive and well. The Purolator employee told her that a truck driver found the cat in the back of his vehicle. Baloo had somehow escaped the box.
Lake says her cat must have somehow managed to sneak into the box while she wasn鈥檛 looking, likely through a small opening in the top, and nestled into the hole of the rim.
鈥淪o he wasn鈥檛 on top, he had gotten in through the hole of the rim down into the bottom of the box,鈥� she said.
Once Baloo was found, the shipping company reached out to the Montreal SPCA, which retrieved the cat.
鈥淲e were all extremely relieved that Balloo made it OK to Montreal, that he survived the trip,鈥� said SPCA spokesperson Anita Kapuscinska.
Baloo, who is perfectly healthy, is now en route home thanks to Freedom Drivers, a volunteer-led organization that drives pets in need of travel.
Lake said she鈥檚 relieved to be getting her cat back in time for the holidays. But she doesn鈥檛 expect she鈥檒l hear the end of it anytime soon.
鈥淚鈥檓 never going to live it down,鈥� she said.
