By: Emma Ouyang

On April 17th, a pet cat was found in an Amazon warehouse in Lehi, Utah. Originally from California, the feline stowaway was shipped 500 miles by truck.

Galena, a 6-year-old American Shorthair, belongs to Carrie Clark and her husband, who live in Lehi, Utah. When their pet cat went missing, the couple searched all over their house and neighborhood. They began to panic when Galena was nowhere to be found, worrying about what could have happened to her.

Ms. Clark, who was devastated by Galena’s sudden disappearance, was overwhelmed by what-if scenarios as to what had happened to her cat. She said, “We had absolutely no idea what happened. It was really challenging; I was definitely in a lot of grief.”

However, as it turned out, Galena was found—in another state. On April 17, a week later, she received a call from a veterinarian in California – Galena had been around 500 miles away from home. At first, Ms. Clark was doubtful.

“I could not believe that it was true,” she said. “I told her: I think this is a prank.”

Then, she learned the story of how Galena had ended up in Utah. The cat had climbed into a large 3-by-3-foot Amazon returns box that already stored five pairs of heavy steel-toed boots. Neither Ms. Clark nor her husband noticed the extra weight of their cat in the returns package, which was sealed and shipped to a warehouse in Utah, two states away. Although Galena had no food or water throughout the one-week journey, she survived with no major health problems, thanks to two lucky aspects of the trip: oxygen had been able to circulate through a broken seam in the box, and there had been moderate weather along the way.

After two Amazon employees found the cat in the returns package, they called a co-worker, Brandy Hunter, who drove to the warehouse to take Galena to her home and keep the timid cat safe.

“We have gotten some pretty crazy things in my time but never anything like this!” Ms. Hunter later wrote on Facebook.

Shortly after, Ms. Hunter took the cat to a veterinarian. Fortunately, the vet had found Ms. Clark’s contact information from Galena’s microchip and called her. After booking a flight and arriving at the veterinarian clinic in California, Ms. Clark and her husband were relieved to find Galena, who calmed down at the sight of her owners.

“When I got to hold her again, she stopped shaking and knew I was there for her,” Ms. Clark said. “It was such a miraculous moment.”