Local police said two airline employees grew suspicious after the woman tried to check in with the cat and returned without the animal half an hour after she was told it couldn’t go on the plane.
The abandoned cat is pictured above. He looks very much like a blue British Shorthair (a purebred cat). They are very popular especially with non-British people.
The story is that a woman in her 30s was flying from Oslo, Norway to London; an international flight.
She was bringing a cat with her (I have presumed she was the owner). She failed to make proper arrangements for her cat to travel in the hold and wanted to take him/her into the cabin which is forbidden by the airline concerned, Norwegian Air Shuttle.
Consequently, she could not take her cat with her and rather than make fresh arrangements for the pair of them, she decided to abandon her cat there and then at Gardermoen airport, Oslo.
She left her cat at the terminal some distance from check-in. Her behaviour was suspicious as she returned to check-in without her cat.
She said that she had made arrangements for a friend to collect him. Two airline employees found the cat in his cage when searching the terminal. It seems their suspicions compelled them to check and they were right.
The cat was taken to the airport police station and subsequently to an animal shelter in Lillestrom.
The woman faces a criminal charge of animal cruelty. That is going to mess up her arrangements a lot more that making fresh arrangements would have.
Police superintendent Solfrid Nyheim said that the cat will not be returned to the woman because “we cannot return it to an owner who treats it this way”.
What do I take from this story? Firstly, Norway appears to have tight animal welfare laws. Good. Secondly, the woman in question was apparently very lackadaisical in her arrangements and behaved appallingly in the quality of her cat caretaking.
Ironically, the police officer concerned adopted another cat after he/she was found at the airport. This is not the first time this has happened and no doubt it won’t be the last.
P.S. I wonder if this lady had just bought a Norwegian bred British Shorthair. The appearance – wide cheeks – is that of Russian breeders. Russians breed the Brit SH to quite a different appearance to those in the USA.
Source: Woman faces animal cruelty after leaving cat in Oslo airport for London trip | Daily Mail Online
I wonder how she treated the cat at home? It might be a good thing it happened this way. The cat might get a new home.
I thought Great Britain had strict rules about animals being transported into the country, such as medical history, shot record, and quarantine. Has this changed over the last twenty years, Michael?
The introduction of the Pet Travel Scheme in 2001 eliminated the need for mandatory quarantine in the U.K. Provided of course that the animal has a full pet passport and is arriving from a destination proven to be low risk for rabies. Failure to comply will result in the animal being denied entry into the country or put into 6 months quarantine at the owner’s expense.
Regardless of individual airline policies, all animals arriving in the U.K. by air, must travel as cargo in the hold. Upon arrival, the animal will be taken straight to the airport’s Animal Reception Centre to have their passport and microchip details checked before they can be reunited with their owner.