15 Felines Abandoned at the Airport

Officers of the Leonardo da Vinci-Fuimicino Airport in Rome were in for a shock recently, not so much with finding suspicious looking pieces of luggage found unclaimed and abandoned in the airport’s grounds, but more in finding 15 cats having been abandoned in the area.

After being informed of a limit with the number of cats he was allowed to bring with him, an American opted to leave 15 of the 19 cats he had with him in the airport, leaving behind luggage items and kitty litter, which, needless to say, resulted to a “bomb scare”.

Reports from the New York Post tell that the man was booked for a flight from Rome to New York. Being told that he couldn’t bring all of the 19 cats he had with him, he figured the airport’s arrival terminal would suffice as 15 of the kitties’ “new home”.

With airport securities tight as they are, the abandoned felines and the luggage items left with them did cause a stir. Once the situation had been clarified, the 44-year old man now faces animal cruelty charges, considering how ill-handled the situation was dealt with, a charge he’ll have to face if he does ever get to set foot on Italian soil.

Needless to say, the man did manage to get on board the plane, with 4 cats.

It is difficult to form speculations over the actual intentions of the American in this story, but one apparent conclusion is that he was in a rush, thus his decision to leave the cats behind.

Still, it is no reason for anyone to just dump pets whenever, at their convenience. Responsible pet owners should know better, and the value of preparation remains to be important when traveling with pets.