Montreal woman searches for cat last seen at Toronto Pearson airport

A Montreal woman is pleading for help finding her cat after the animal disappeared during a journey from Jordan to Canada more than two weeks ago.

Abir Batikhi says her seven-year-old cat, Caramel, was one of four cats travelling with her on a non-stop flight from Jordan on Aug. 17.

The Montreal resident says all four animals were secured in cages before departure. She however says that when she arrived in Montreal and collected the animals, one cage was empty.

“I received the four cages. One cat was missing,” Batikhi said.

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After making inquiries, Batikhi says she was told Caramel had been seen in the cargo hold when the aircraft arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport, where the flight stopped before continuing to Montreal.

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She says airport officials informed her the cat escaped onto the airport ramp area near Terminal 3 and ran toward gates 29 and 30.

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“That was the last reported sighting,” she said.

Since then, Batikhi has turned to social media in an effort to locate the missing pet.

“I post in all the groups on Facebook. Animal lovers, employees. I post a lot in Montreal and Toronto,” she said.

Batikhi, who has cared for Caramel since the cat was born, fears the animal may be hiding and struggling to survive.

“Because she’s scared, she will be hiding, starved. I don’t want her to die from starvation,” she said.

The animal shelter volunteer says she has been in contact with airport authorities repeatedly but remains frustrated that the cat has not been found.

“Please, I really want to know why they haven’t been able to trap her,” she said.

A spokesperson for Toronto Pearson said wildlife crews have been conducting daily sweeps of the airport grounds, setting humane live-capture traps and notifying ground crews to watch for the animal.

Dacia Rohlehr, CEO of pet transportation company Paws En Route, says incidents involving escaped animals during air travel are uncommon.

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“There are about four million pets that travel annually, and out of those four million pets, about 0.01 per cent experience an issue,” Rohlehr said.

She says strict regulations are in place to reduce the risk of animals escaping during transport, including requirements that kennel doors be secured.

“The gate and the door have a zip tie and that is well secured as well, because you don’t want that to open during flight,” Rohlehr said.

Batikhi says the cages were secured with zip ties before departure from Jordan and inspected before the flight. She says she does not know whether Caramel escaped during the flight or after the aircraft landed.