SAN FRANCISCO—Air Canada sent two felines to the city of San Francisco without the owner in attendance on July 6.
Abbas Zoeb arrived with his two cats, Mimi and Bubba, to depart on his flight on July 6 but, was having issues with his visa which prevented him from going on board. After several hours of waiting, he was informed by airline personnel that his cats were aboard a plane headed for San Francisco.
According to Zoeb, the airline suggested that he find a way to get his cats back by possibly asking some in the city of San Francisco to send his cats back to him. “I said it was absurd and I didn’t have anyone to collect them,” he told Business Insider.
His cats were reunited with him about 15 hours later. It is unknown exactly how he got his cats back.
On the day of the incident, Air Canada updated its pet policy so that pets would be prohibited from entering the luggage compartment and that owners would have to board with them as carry-on luggage if deemed small enough. Larger pets would have to be shipped via Air Canada Cargo.
Zoeb told Business Insider that he’s glad that the airline is not taking pets anywhere in cargo because he doesn’t want any pet parent to go through what he went through.
