A missing cat was found by an Amazon warehouse worker after the feline was accidentally shipped over 1,000 kilometres to California from Utah in an Amazon return box.
Galena, a tortoise-shell cat with big blue eyes, was found alive after being stuck in a cardboard box for six days without food and water. Trapped with only boxes of shoes that her owners were returning to Amazon, Galena somehow endured her ordeal.
When the cat initially went missing on April 10, her owners were stumped. The indoor-only cat was described as “super shy” by owner Carrie Clark in a notice posted to a local Facebook group for lost and found pets.
“She’s a part of our family and has never been gone this long before,” Clark wrote in the post, imploring local residents to keep an eye out for the missing cat.
“I’m seriously heartbroken,” Clark added. “(Galena) and I have a codependent relationship. She offers me emotional support and I don’t know what I’ll do without her.”
Clark told local broadcaster KSLTV that she and her husband put up flyers and contacted friends and family for help, but Galena had seemingly vanished without a trace.
“We searched for a whole week,” Clark said. “And then we got the most amazing, insane news in the entire world.”
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On April 17, Clark received a text message that Galena’s microchip had been scanned by a veterinarian. Shortly after, the vet called Clark and explained that her cat had been found in Los Angeles.
“At first I thought it was a prank,” Clark wrote in an update to her original Facebook post.
The Clarks learned that Galena was found inside an Amazon return package by Brandy, an Amazon warehouse worker. Brandy, whom the Clarks identified in their Facebook post only by first name, took Galena in and then brought her to the vet.
Clark told KSLTV that she and her husband broke down crying when they realized that Galena “must have jumped into an oversized box that we shipped out the previous Wednesday.”
“The box was a ‘try before you buy,’ and filled with steel-toed work boots,” she said, adding that Galena loves “to play in boxes, it’s just part of her personality.”
After Clark spoke to the vet in L.A., she got on the phone with Brandy. The Amazon warehouse worker told her that she took care of Galena for a day before taking her to the vet’s office. Brandy was relieved to hear that Galena’s parents had been desperately looking for her.
Clark and her husband booked a flight to California the next day to pick up their globe-trotting cat.
“It was an amazing reunion! Galena instantly stopped shaking and relaxed in my arms when I got to hold her again,” Clark said. “Despite being skinnier and some mild dehydration, her bloodwork was completely normal and she was completely unharmed!”
The Clarks rented a car and drove 10 hours to bring Galena home.
In her interview with KSLTV, Clark reflected on the many small miracles that allowed Galena to be reunited with the family.
“The box Galena was in was split open on one seam and that gave her air to breathe. The weather temperatures were ideal and she didn’t overheat or freeze. Galena survived because of her microchip, Brandy’s kindness and generosity, and God’s grace,” she said.
“We learned that Brandy knows all about cats and rescues them on the side. It’s by no coincidence that Galena ended up in her warehouse.”
Clark is encouraging all pet owners to microchip their pets and “triple check your Amazon boxes!”
“I know that under other circumstances that she wouldn’t have been found,” the cat mom said while choking back tears. “We’re just so happy to have her again, oh my goodness.”
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