Lost cat lives on JFK airport runway for over two weeks before getting rescued
Salvatore Fazio was traveling from JFK airport in New York when his pet cat Ettore got loose and disappeared near the runway
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}No one likes getting stuck at the airport – not even cats.
A man traveling through New York’s JFK airport had almost lost hope that he would ever be reunited with his pet cat Ettore again. The animal had gotten loose from his travel crate before being loaded onto a flight. Ettore then disappeared after running away from airport workers.
Salvatore Fazio was traveling from JFK airport in New York when his pet cat Ettore got loose and disappeared near the runway. (John Debacker)
John Debacker of Long Island Cat Kitten Solution helped rescue the lost pet. He spoke with Fox News about the experience and how exactly Ettore was safely located.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to him, the cat’s owner Salvatore Fazio was traveling to Italy when Ettore got loose and disappeared. While someone may have spotted the cat near the airport, there were no officials sightings of him for two weeks.
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Debacker says that he got involved in the situation after Fazio posted about Ettore on Facebook. Unfortunately, searching an airport’s runway area can be difficult. Debacker says that Toni Ann, a friend of Fazio’s, helped coordinate search efforts and made fliers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Eventually, an airport worker found the cat’s collar near the runway area of the airport. Debacker says that after this, he was able to convince the airport and Port Authority to allow him to set up a motion-detecting camera.
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The camera captured footage of Ettore about 10 hours later.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Debacker went back to that area and set up a humane trap and Ettore was safely caught. The cat had spent 18 days living on the airport’s runway. During that time, Ettore had lost three pounds (dropping from 17-pounds to 14) and suffered some bruises on his nose. Debacker says he believes the cat probably just hunkered down near some shrubbery and stayed close to a water source.
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It’s a good thing that Ettore was found when he was, as Debacker doesn’t think the house cat was faring all that well in the wild.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ettore is now doing well and the rescue is coordinating efforts with Fazio (who is traveling in Italy) to return the cat to his home.