Cat goes missing at Delhi airport, reunited with pet parent after four days of hectic search

The cat deftly slipped out of the carrier, kept in the aircraft’s cargo belly, and disappeared into the cavernous expanse of the airport, leaving her pet parent Astha Shah worried and the Delhi airport staff flustered.

Few people, or for that matter animals, have been able to dodge the eagle-eyed security personnel at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and roam about at will. But that’s exactly what eight-month-old Nala, a cat who was put on an Air India flight from Bengaluru, did on reaching Delhi on September 1.

Wildlife SOS, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation that works for rehabilitation and rescue of wildlife, helped Shah relocate Nala to Delhi.(Photo: Wildlife SOS)

She deftly slipped out of the carrier, kept in the aircraft’s cargo belly, and disappeared into the cavernous expanse of the airport, leaving her pet parent Astha Shah worried and the Delhi airport staff flustered.

And while Nala went about her adventure, airport personnel searched high and low for her, finally locating her on Friday, four days after she went awol, and reuniting her with a relived and happy Shah.

Wildlife SOS, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation that works for rehabilitation and rescue of wildlife, helped Shah relocate Nala to Delhi. An NGO official said Shah was travelling with her two cats to Delhi from Bengaluru on the Air India flight.

“Both cats were being transported in certified pet carriers. When the plane landed in Delhi, the passenger was informed that one of the cats went missing from her carrier during transit at the IGI Airport. Our enquiries revealed that the pet carrier in which Nala was put had come undone in the aircraft’s cargo compartment.The cat had slipped out and gotten lost on the vast Delhi airport premises,” a spokesperson for the Wildlife SOS said.

Nala reunites with her pet parent. (Photo: Wildlife SOS)

When Shah was informed about Nala going missing, she cancelled her onward journey to Ahmedabad and stayed back in Delhi to help find Nala. “The airport authorities immediately launched a search for the missing feline. Wildlife SOS also assisted with the search operation by placing food baits at several locations inside the airport to lure Nala out. After four days of tracking the cat, she was finally located in the airport’s cargo hold area,” the spokesperson said.

As Nala looked terrified and hungry, it took the Wildlife SOS team hours to ease her out from the cargo facility before being reunited with Shah, the spokesperson said.

Nala the cat (Photo: Wildlife SOS)

Shah, who lives in Bengaluru, said the cats are her family and the incident had left her in tears. “House cats struggle to survive on their own for long. I thank Wildlife SOS for reuniting my beloved Nala with me. The past few days have been extremely stressful, but I received a lot of support from the animal community, the Air India staff, airport authorities and the airport operator. This incident showed me that compassion is not dead and people will still go the extra mile to help a stranger desperately searching for her beloved pet,” Shah told Wildlife SOS.

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO, Wildlife SOS, said they are glad they could help find the missing feline and reunite her with her family.

Air India also said the airline is happy that Nala is now safe in the warm embrace of her pet parent.