A Maritime animal breeder is holding out hope that a cat from war-torn Ukraine – missing between Hamilton and Halifax – will soon be recovered in good health.
Nova Scotia animal rescuer Kristen Janssen says Feliks was one of nine cats she had found a home for after an exchange with a breeder in eastern Europe tied to a North American evacuation program.
“He’s a pure white Devon Rex with blue eyes and comes from a wonderful breeder inside of Kyiv,” Janssen said.
“When he first got to Poland, he was pretty sick. He had an upper respiratory infection and it took about a month and a half just to get him healthy enough so he could fly to Canada.”
Feliks, travelling with another cat in the same crate, was a no-show when the Cargojet from John C. Munro airport arrived on the East Coast April 26.
The short-hair had just finished a brief stay with Janssen’s family in Hamilton after being picked up by car from Toronto’s Pearson airport following his venture from Poland.
“So the night of the 25th, my sister packed the cats up in two separate crates, took them to Cargojet in Hamilton,” Jansen said.
“They were checked in and when they arrived the next morning in Halifax and I went to pick them up, there was no Felix.”
An investigation involving Cargojet and airport staff in Hamilton viewing security camera footage and placing a lure of food has turned up nothing as of Wednesday.
Janssen estimates there were about four hours between his drop-off at Munro and his flight to Halifax, which arrived at 5:30 a.m. ADT.
“So we reached out to Cargojet. They said that they’ve reviewed all their footage,” Janssen said.
“They didn’t see the cat running on his own, didn’t see anybody at the crate taking him out. So we honestly have no idea what happened.”
She says Feliks, who is microchipped, was headed for a permanent home with one of Janssen’s friends in New Brunswick.
A $1,000 reward is being offered for his safe return or any information that would lead to the safe return.
Janssen can be reached at specialksphynx@hotmail.com or via a recent Facebook post.
Global News has reached out to Cargojet and John C. Munro Airport for comment on the matter but have yet to receive a response.
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