Cape Town – KLM Royal Dutch Airlines customer care representatives escorted Limpet to his anxiously awaiting owners after the family cat went missing in transit when the Van Wyk family travelled to Norway.
Limpet vanished last week after Chantal and Norman van Wyk left Cape Town International Airport to immigrate to Norway.
Airports Company SA (Acsa), along with KLM, investigated the case of the missing cat, with Acsa spokesperson Deidre Davids saying it was rare for a pet to go missing.
“Thankfully this is a rare occurrence, but when it does happen it’s most disturbing. In November 2018, a dog managed to escape its cage but was caught nearly immediately,” Davids said.
The couple flew via Amsterdam and when they arrived in the city the next day, one of their three cats, Limpet, was missing.
On Friday, KLM customer care representatives met the Van Wyks to return their cat after it was found in a warehouse at Schiphol Airport.
Chantal said they were overwhelmed by the response they received from people who tried to help find their cat.
“We’ve lost track of who was involved with what, but every single post mattered. Every share made it possible for Paco Brouwer to contact us after finding Limpet in a warehouse in Schiphol Airport.
"(Brouwer) said: ‘My colleague was looking at the warehouse and the lights went on and off all the time, there’s a light sensor that switches it on. He thought he was going crazy and this morning we told him not to drink in working time’.”
Chantal extended a special thanks to friend Nicola Homewood, who helped when they were not able to access their phones last week.
“She posted the notice and by the time we reached our destination, we had 900 messages. To the edge-of-the-seat
sitters, nail-biters, glued-to-the-phoners we’re grateful for your support.”