There were big emotions on display at the Tsawwassen, B.C., ferry terminal on Sunday, where a cat that got loose and vanished during a sailing from Vancouver Island to the mainland was reunited with his owner after more than two weeks.
The remarkable moment was captured on camera.
“We do this because we genuinely care about the animals and their families. So to be able to witness a pet being reunited, especially when Luigi could have been a needle in a haystack, he could have it anywhere,” said Karen Nixon, the administrator of Halo’s Pet Rescue who helped find Luigi the cat.
“It’s indescribable.”
The adventurous black and white tuxedo cat managed to slip out of a small window opening in his owners’ vehicle and vanish on the lower deck of the Coastal Inspiration during a Duke Point to Tsawwassen sailing on Aug. 9.
An initial search of the vessel came up empty-handed, but Luigi’s family didn’t give up and secured the help of Halo’s Pet Rescue, a volunteer group that specializes in finding lost animals.
Despite the happy ending, it wasn’t an easy rescue.
Cat escapes vehicle on BC Ferries, goes missing
To begin with, it wasn’t even clear what side of the water Luigi was in, or if he was still even in B.C. Nixon said there were concerns he’d climbed aboard a vehicle heading out of province.
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Nixon got permission to comb the ferry with her search dog, Halo, which required waiting for it to finish service for the day in Nanaimo. The duo scoured both the Coastal Inspiration and the Nanaimo terminal to no avail.
“Luigi could have been a needle in a haystack, he could have it anywhere, we thought this could be two years before we find him … but we’re in it for the long haul and we’re gonna spread the word far and wide,” Nixon said.
“While I was on there taking the ride to Nanaimo, I heard so many people talking about Luigi and they spent the ferry trip looking for him in every nook and cranny. It was really heartwarming to see complete strangers looking for this kitty cat.”
The search then moved back to Tsawwassen, where a Facebook post had reported seeing Luigi in a long-term parking lot.
Nixon set up food and a camera at the terminal, which turned up no sign after four days.
Then, a break in the case — a staff member reported the cat may have been hiding somewhere in the terminal’s restricted trucking yard, an area Nixon hadn’t been able to access.
“One man who had seen a flash of a black and white cat had been leaving food out. Hadn’t seen him again, but the food was going missing,” she said.
“And then yesterday, the magical moment happened that another worker saw him right there eating the food and then he ran back into a hiding, so we came down.”
While they waited for Luigi’s owner to drive down from Vernon, Halo helped the group pinpoint the cat’s hiding spot under a portable Atco trailer.
Surprise Kelowna cat reunion after 6 years
The group tried to trap him, but it wasn’t until his owner arrived that Luigi was ready to go.
“She proceeded to just call him and call him and talk to him until he started meowing back,” she said.
“We went back to the area that Halo said he was hiding in, opened a trap door and she waited it out. It didn’t take that long. Their bond is pretty strong. And you could hear him telling her his story and he was ultimately coaxed out of hiding to come to her. It was beautiful. And I’m so glad I was there to witness that.”
Nixon gave special thanks to the BC Ferries crew who had been keeping an eagle eye out for the wayward puss, along with the thousands of people who shared social media posts and news stories about Luigi.
“We are thrilled that he’s safe and back with his family,” added BC Ferries spokesperson Ritinder Matthews.
“Our crews at Tswawassen were keeping a really close eye out for him and when one of our drivers spotted him we worked with Halo’s Pet Rescue and Luigi’s family to bring him home and it was a really a community effort from our drivers to terminal staff to Halo’s Pet Rescue and Luigi’s mom.”
Despite his big adventure, Luigi appears happy and healthy, and in classic cat fashion is being nonchalant about the whole thing.
“He’s doing great, he’s back at home, he’s settled in like nothing ever happened — it’s the rest of us that are still emotional about it. He’s in all his favourite spots in the house, purring away and sleeping,” Nixon said.
She added one piece of advice for any pet owner who finds themselves searching for a lost pet.
“Don’t give up hope, your pet is out there,” she said.
“Luigi, by most people’s standards, gone for two weeks seems like a lot of really long time, but we’ve trapped pets that we’re missing over a year … let everybody know your pet is still missing and don’t give up, they’re out there.”
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