By: Jasmine Tang

On April 17, a 6-year-old cat, Galena, was found at an amazon warehouse 500 miles away from home, after climbing into a cardboard box at her owners’ home.
According to the New York Times, Carrie Clark, Galena’s owner, got a call from a veterinarian, informing her that her cat, who had disappeared from her Utah home a week ago, was found 500 miles away, and her first reaction was disbelief.
“I couldn’t believe it was true,” Ms. Clark had said during her interview. “I told her: I think this is a prank.”

Though, it was in fact not a prank. Galena, an American shorthair, had climbed inside an amazon returns package, holding 5 pairs of steel-toed boots. Then, Galena traveled in the box through 2 states before getting discovered by amazon employees in one of their warehouses.
Somehow Galena survived the journey without any food or water. When Galena was found, she was in good health with only a case of mild dehydration. According to the New York Times, one side of the box came unglued, allowing Galena to breathe, and keeping her from overheating or freezing.
Ms. Clark thought that Galena had gotten into the box, while her husband went to get tape to seal the box up.

“She doesn’t meow a lot and she loves boxes, so for her, she was really happy in that moment, I’m sure,” Ms. Clark said. “Although I’m sure that wasn’t the case later on.”
Since the box was already very heavy, Ms. Clark and her husband didn’t notice the extra weight of their cat inside when they mailed the package on April 10th. What they did notice that same day, was that their cat was missing. After days of searching, Ms. Clark had only the worst-case scenarios running through her head.

“We had absolutely no idea what had happened,” Ms. Clark said.
On April 17th, Ms. Clark got the call from the veterinarian about Galena. As said in the New York Times, amazon worker had brought Galena to the veterinarian, and she was identified by her microchip, and called Ms. Clark. After they got the call she and her husband instantly booked a flight to California to reunite with their cat.
“When I got to hold her again, she stopped shaking and knew that I was there for her,” Ms. Clark said. “It was such a miraculous moment.”

Yan Zhuang. “Stowaway Cat Gets From Utah to California in Amazon Returns Package.” New York Times, 29 Apr. 2024,
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/29/us/amazon-package-cat-utah-california.html