Search ongoing for pregnant cat lost in the Ottawa airport since Thursday
The Ottawa Airport Authority and volunteers from a local rescue shelter are searching for Athena, a pregnant cat who has been lost in the parking garage of the Ottawa airport since Thursday.
- Sign up now for our daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
A news release by Furry Tales Rescue says the cat was travelling from Winnipeg when she escaped from her carrier on March 21.
Athena was being transported to the rescue shelter to start a new life in Ottawa after being found in a landfill in Winnipeg.
The rescue organization is offering $1,000 for her return.
The cat was last seen on the ground floor of the airport garage and is described as a long-haired grey tabby with a stubby tail.
"She is friendly but scared and may be hiding under a car or possibly inside the hood of a car or wheel well," the news release said.
Ottawa airport authority spokesperson Krista Kealey tells CTV News that staff are aware of the situation and employees conducting regular patrols of the garage have been looking for her.
"Unfortunately, there have been no sightings as of yet," Kealey said in an email.
Photos of the cat will be given to airport staff on Monday if the cat is not found.
Athena, a pregnant cat who has been lost in the parking garage of the Ottawa airport since Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Furry Tales Rescue)
Janice Richard, the lead volunteer searching for the cat and an experienced trapper, says volunteers have been searching the garage for over 35 hours since the cat went missing.
Richard says volunteers could hear the cat cry out, but were not able to locate where it came from.
"At this point in time, we feel she has left the garage and is now outside on the property of the airport, or hitched a ride in a car engine and is somewhere in Ottawa," Richard said.
Volunteers have set multiple food-baited traps in the garage, but have so far remained unsuccessful.
"We are asking anyone who parked at the Ottawa airport since this past Thursday to please check the hood of their car if they have left the airport. If you live close to the airport, please check under your cars, in your sheds or garage," said Donna MacRae, the founder of Furry Tales Rescue in the news release.
"She made it this far, living in the brutal cold in a dumpster, we are keeping our fingers crossed that she will be found alive."
Anyone with information that could help find the cat is asked to contact furrytalesrescue@gmail.com
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.