Earlier this month, Carrie Clark and her family were devastated when their beloved cat, Galena, inexplicably went missing from their home in Utah. Initially, they believed that their indoor cat had somehow snuck outside and gotten lost.
“We had absolutely no idea what had happened to her. She is always by my side,” Clark told The Dodo. “It was really alarming to not be able to find her. We searched our whole entire neighborhood.”
Despite the family’s constant searching, Galena was nowhere to be found. Clark began to fear the they’d never see her again.
“My imagination went wild with worst case scenarios,” she said. “We’ve had Galena since she was a kitten. She’s been by my side for six years. Our whole family was praying that Galena would be found.”
A week later, the family’s prayers were finally answered. Galena had been found!
But not anywhere the Clarks would ever have thought to look.
Turns out, on the same day that Galena went missing, Clark’s husband had been preparing to return a large box containing several pairs of work boots they’d ordered from Amazon.
Unbeknownst to the Clarks, their cat had hopped into it to nestle a while — only to be accidentally shipped out with the shoes.
“[My husband] checked the box, but when he stepped into another room to get tape to seal the box up, that’s when Galena must have snuck into it,” Clark said. “We had absolutely no idea that our sweet kitty had jumped inside that box before my husband taped it up.”
That’s how Galena’s misadventures all began.
Six days after going missing, Galena was discovered 650 miles away, inside the box at an Amazon processing facility in California — scared and confused, but very much still alive.
A warehouse worker named Brandy found her, kept her safe and later took Galena to the vet.
“After we had been searching for her for a week, I got a phone call telling me that a veterinarian had scanned her microchip in California,” Clark said. “I got to talk to Brandy, and she said Galena was in this Amazon package they’d opened. I was in complete shock.”
Amazingly, after nearly a week in a box being shipped by truck across several states, Galena was found to still be mostly in good health. All she was missing were her loving owners. But that soon changed.
“We booked an overnight flight to California to go and get our kitty cat,” Clark said. “We love her so much. We wanted to bring her back home. When we got to the vet, we got to reunite with her.”
“It was an absolute miracle. We believe that God had a hand in saving our kitty,” Clark said. “It was utter joy to be able to find her again.”
After that, Galena’s parents rented a car to drive their beloved cat back home.
It’s been a little over a week now since Galena’s ordeal came to an end, and she and her family couldn’t be more relieved.
“She’s so happy to be here,” Clark said. “We’re so grateful to have her back. Life has been really peaceful and wonderful having her back home.”
Clark does have a word advice for other cat parents, however:
“Please consider microchipping your pet, and triple checking your Amazon packages,” she said. “Make sure there are no kitty cats inside.”
