By: Elaine Xu

On April 17, Carrie Clark got a phone call from a veterinarian in California who told her that her cat, Galena, had been found by Amazon employees near Riverside, California. A week earlier, Ms. Clark’s cat disappeared from her home in Utah. When she received the call, she thought it was a prank at first.

It wasn’t a prank. Ms. Clark’s husband was packing Amazon Returns boxes, and Galena, her 6-year-old American Shorthair, had climbed inside a box with five pairs of steel-toed boots inside when he went to get some tape. Galena traveled 500 miles away from home in that box.

Ms. Clark and her husband did not notice their cat’s added weight when it climbed into the box, since it already weighed over 30 pounds, but they did notice that their cat was missing that same day. “We had absolutely no idea what had happened. It was really challenging; I was definitely in a lot of grief,” Ms. Clark said.

A week later, a veterinarian called her and said that an Amazon employee, Brandy Hunter, had found her cat in a box and brought Galena to her office. After checking its microchip, the veterinarian determined the cat belonged to Ms. Clark and contacted her right away.

The cat was still pretty healthy; it was only a bit dehydrated. Two things helped Galena survive the journey to California. One side of the box had fallen apart, so Galena had gotten more oxygen to breathe. Also, Galena didn’t overheat or freeze because of the mild weather.

After receiving the call, Ms. Clark and her husband quickly booked a flight to California. The next day, they arrived at the clinic where Galena was.

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