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Escaped Cat Who Evaded JFK Authorities for Eight Days Finally Rescued

April 28, 2018
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2 min read
Pepper the Cat JFK escapee
Escaped Cat Who Evaded JFK Authorities for Eight Days Finally Rescued
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An airport escapee has finally been caught after eluding authorities for more than a week. Pepper, a four year-old tabby cat, is now in custody and will hopefully soon be reunited with her owner in China.

It all started around 11:30am on Friday, April 20, when Pepper's owner was checking her into a flight to Beijing, China (PEK) at New York's JFK Terminal 4. But the carrier reportedly fell over and broke open, and Pepper scurried off, jumping up onto the check-in counter and then disappearing into the check-in counter structure.

The owner spent the rest of the day trying to track down Pepper, missing her original flight. However, the heartbroken owner had to eventually leave her cat behind and caught a flight the next day.

Nuan Lang, a local friend of the owner, and JFK police officer Kameel Juman led the efforts over the following days to try to capture the cat. The Port Authority posted regular Twitter updates on its attempts, which included climbing on top of the check-in counter structure:

Humane traps were set to capture the escapee:

Hopes were high on Friday when a video of Pepper in the structures above the JFK Terminal 4 check-in desks showed that she was still alive and healthy.

Finally, on Saturday morning, the good news came that Pepper had been rescued:

We're thrilled to hear that Pepper has been found and will be reunited with her owner soon. This story hits especially close for me — as digital nomads, my wife Katie and I have been traveling through Europe with our cat Grace for the last two months while sharing our tips about how to do so safely:

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  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
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  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
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