Cat who mysteriously vanished was packed in Amazon return box

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — A cat who mysteriously went missing from her Utah home was found to have been accidentally shipped with an Amazon return to California.

Galena is now back home with Carrie and Matt Clark in Salt Lake City, after her weeklong adventure.

The indoor-only cat disappeared on April 10, sending her distraught owners into a frenzy of searching. Despite missing posters plastered around town and on social media, she didn’t turn up.

Then, on April 17, Carrie Clark received a text from a veterinarian who had scanned Galena’s microchip in a stray cat — in California.

“I didn’t believe her at first and thought it was a prank,” Clark told TV station KSL.

Galena had been found the previous day in a box with five pairs of work boots in an Amazon warehouse in Riverside County.

“She must have jumped into an oversized box that we shipped out the previous Wednesday,” Clark said. “The box was a ‘try before you buy,’ and filled with steel-toed work boots.”

Galena was trapped in the box for six days without food or water before she was found by an Amazon employee named Brandy.

Clark and her husband booked a flight for the next day to reunite with their miracle cat, then drove with her 10 hours back to Utah. Galena had lost weight and was mildly dehydrated but suffered no injury.

Clark said she wants to encourage all pet owners to microchip their pets and “triple-check your Amazon boxes.”