Airline probes disappearance of family’s cat

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Cape Town – Airports Company SA (Acsa) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines are investigating the disappearance of a family pet between Cape Town and Norway. Norman and Chantal van Wyk, who have emigrated to Norway, flew from Cape Town International Airport on Sunday to Norway via Amsterdam. When they arrived in Amsterdam, they discovered that one of their three cats, Limpet, was missing. It is not clear if the cat went missing in transit, in Cape Town, or in Amsterdam. The couple’s friend, Nicola Homewood, made a “missing” post on Facebook in the hope of reuniting Limpet with the Van Wyks.

“They’ve arrived in Norway now, but there’s still no word of Limpet. There’s a lot of momentum from the Facebook post, and other friends are also trying to help,” Homewood said.

The cat was in a cage the couple were adamant was locked.

Chantal van Wyk said they were devastated. “We didn’t use an agency (to transport the cats); there was no need for one, as the instructions were clear and everything was planned to the T by me. This is an unforeseen catastrophe,”she said.

“We took our cats to the oversized baggage section ourselves, one hour prior to departure. We held them while their boxes were scanned and put them back in ourselves. We checked the locks before handing them to airport staff.

“Limpet is a very passionate little guy and really doesn’t like noise. I think they must have put them in the trailer and while driving to the plane, he must have really manhandled that cage and wangled out. He must be petrified and starving.”

Acsa spokesperson Deidre Davids said Acsa officials had spoken to the pet handlers and was working with KLM “to support them as they conduct an investigation - most important for the team is to try to track down Limpet”.

“Thankfully this is a rare occurrence, but when it does happen it’s most disturbing. Our thoughts are with the family and we’ve created broad awareness of this.

‘‘We are hopeful he will be found,” Davids said.

A KLM spokesperson confirmed the investigation, and said staff would be in contact with the family.

Limpet, about 8, is a large, neutered white cat with long hair and yellow eyes, and has a tracking chip.