SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A distraught cat owner is opening up after her pet took flight during a stop in South Florida.
Cellphone video recorded by a worker at Miami International Airport captured Sani the cat in a crate before he went missing.
Rebecca Bly, the feline’s owner, spoke to 7News on Friday.
“We’re desperate. We really need their help,” she said.
Bly said this nightmare began when she and her husband started their move from Costa Rica to North Carolina.
They put Sani and his mother on an American Airlines flight on Nov. 17, and they headed for their new home with a stop in Miami.
She said the airline hired Pet Limo to transport the cats to a boarding facility in Southwest Miami-Dade for the layover.
“When his mom was being taken out and situated, he took his chance and jumped out of the van,” Bly said.
Bly said the transport company believes the cat pushed through a crack in the crate and escaped. The pet’s owner said the crack wasn’t there before the flight.
Sani has now been missing more than a week.
Bly’s husband flew into South Florida on Friday to meet with the airline and the transport company.
“At the end of the day, we paid them to transport our fur babies, our animals to our new home, and so it’s their responsibility, and something went wrong,” Bly said.
Bly said finding Sani is the only thing that will make it right. She’s asking everyone who lives near the Canine Country Club at 6201 SW 118th Ave. to be on the lookout for the 15-pound male tabby.
“Please, please, please just help us bring our family all back together,” she said. “He’s meant to be here with us, and I know he wants to be, so please, please keep an eye out for him.”
The folks with the transport company and boarding facility have put up flyers, and they told 7News that they have set out traps and have been searching night and day.
Friday night, a spokesperson for American Airlines issued a statement that reads, “After arriving safely at Miami International Airport, Sani escaped his kennel while en route to an overnight facility. We are all concerned with Sani’s well-being — and our team members are working with his owner to locate him.”
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