Search ongoing for pregnant cat lost in the Ottawa airport since Thursday

The Ottawa Airport Authority and volunteers from a local rescue shelter are searching for Athena, a pregnant cat who has been lost in the parking garage of the Ottawa airport since Thursday.

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A news release by Furry Tales Rescue says the cat was travelling from Winnipeg when she escaped from her carrier on March 21.

Athena was being transported to the rescue shelter to start a new life in Ottawa after being found in a landfill in Winnipeg.

The rescue organization is offering $1,000 for her return.

The cat was last seen on the ground floor of the airport garage and is described as a long-haired grey tabby with a stubby tail.

“She is friendly but scared and may be hiding under a car or possibly inside the hood of a car or wheel well,” the news release said.

Ottawa airport authority spokesperson Krista Kealey tells CTV News that staff are aware of the situation and employees conducting regular patrols of the garage have been looking for her.

“Unfortunately, there have been no sightings as yet,” Kealey said in an email.

Photos of the cat will be given to airport staff on Monday if the cat is not found.

Janice Richard, the lead volunteer searching for the cat and an experienced trapper, says volunteers have been searching the garage for over 35 hours since the cat went missing.

Richard says volunteers could hear the cat cry out, but were not able to locate where it came from.

“At this point in time, we feel she has left the garage and is now outside on the property of the airport, or hitched a ride in a car engine and is somewhere in Ottawa,” Richard said.

Volunteers have set multiple food-baited traps in the garage, but have so far remained unsuccessful.

“We are asking anyone who parked at the Ottawa airport since this past Thursday to please check the hood of their car if they have left the airport. If you live close to the airport, please check under your cars, in your sheds or garage,” said Donna MacRae, the founder of Furry Tales Rescue in the news release.

“She made it this far, living in the brutal cold in a dumpster, we are keeping our fingers crossed that she will be found alive.”

Anyone with information that could help find the cat is asked to contact furrytalesrescue@gmail.com