CAT-ASTROPHE AVERTED
Purr-fect rescue for cat lost in airport for 11 days
After the clawful week we’ve had, you no doubt want to read a cute cat story with a happy ending.
Well, a kitty named Muji has been reunited with its owner — 11 days after it got spooked by an airport security check en route to California, then escaped into the ceiling of LaGuardia Airport.
Today, Muji will finally board a plane home thanks to rescue efforts orchestrated by her devoted owner, who was helped by a group of pet-loving volunteers and a golden retriever named Abby.
The putty tat’s harrowing adventure began on Christmas Eve, when TSA agents insisted that pastry chef Taylor Le take Muji out of her carrier to walk through an airport security metal detector.
“I said, ‘She’s gonna run. Do I have to take her out?’ ” Le told The Post.
Yes, they told her.
“We walked through the metal detector and she got spooked, bit me, freaked out and ran off,” Le said.
A chase ensued. The 6-year-old cat made it back into the checkpoint area and laid down, but then took off again when Le got to her, bolting to the Southwest Airlines ticket counter and leaping over the luggage-weighing scale.
“I was terrified she was going to jump onto the conveyor belt,” said Le.
But Muji instead ran into a mechanical room, where two airport operators tried to capture her.
“It only aggravated her more,” Le said. Bounding up a series of platforms, Muji then crawled into a ceiling enclosure — and disappeared.
Airport control set out tuna traps for the scaredy cat and Le changed her flight to the following day in hopes Muji would reappear, but she remained in the ceiling.
Le, 43, was in the process of moving from Brooklyn to Orange County, California, to be with her family and “had no place to stay. I had nothing,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I boarded my flight the next day.”
On the West Coast, she grew increasingly concerned, especially after days passed and airport officials still had no updates.
She finally posted a “public Facebook plea for help” finding Muji, whom she had adopted from a South Brooklyn feral colony four years ago.
Shortly after posting, Le was contacted by the founders of safe pet-flying advocacy group Where Is Jack? Inc., which was named in memory of Jack the Cat, a feline who escaped from his kennel and into the ducts of JFK Airport in 2011.
With the group’s help, Le got the airport’s permission to bring in Abby — a golden retriever, who “confirmed Muji was still in the ceiling,” said Le, who immediately booked a flight back to New York.
On Monday night, a member of the rescue team sent Le word that Muji had finally been rescued. “I started crying,” said Le. “It was a miracle.” Muji was taken to an animal hospital on Long Island, where she and Le briefly reunited on Tuesday.
“She looked completely shell-shocked,” but otherwise was physically all right, said Le.
Le plans to launch a GoFundMe to help pay for Abby’s services — which cost $1,400 — and Muji’s medical bills; she’ll donate any additional money to Where Is Jack.
When reached for comment, a TSA spokesperson told The Post that runaway airport cats are “not a common occurrence.”
It is TSA protocol to remove pets from their carriers so that they are not “exposed to the X-rays” while screened. The “TSA recommends that small pets be leashed,” the spokesperson added.
The reunited pair are again booked to fly out to California together today.
“This time, I have a TSA harness for her,” Le said. “And I’m going to insist on having a private screening.”