A Cloverdale family is outraged after their cat went missing while in Air Canada's care before a flight bound for Vancouver, and its not the first time a pet has vanished on the airline’s watch.
Amanda Stewart and her family purchased the Scottish Fold from a breeder in Montreal, who put it on a Vancouver-bound flight on Wednesday.
But before the family could go pick it up, the airline contacted them with troubling news.
“I got a phone call from Air Canada telling me not to go to the airport and that they had lost the cat. And I didn't believe them at first, I said, 'Are you sure? How do you lose a cat?'” she said.
Airline officials told her the pet had escaped before being loaded on to its flight, seemingly after its kennel bottom “became unsecured.”
Air Canada has made headlines recently for a variety of pets going missing on its watch last year.
In September, a cat traveling through a Winnipeg airport went missing after the ties securing his kennel fell loose. Luckily, he was found five days later still in the airport.
An Italian Greyhound bound for Vancouver Island was hit and killed by a car, after an employee took it for a walk during a flight delay back in October.
But Air Canada has rejected claims animal disappearances are the norm.
In a statement to CTV News, the airline said: “We ship thousands of animals every year – a great many of them dogs and cats – and escaped animals are rare.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Penny Daflos
