Jack (c. 2005 – November 6, 2011) was a Norwegian forest cat, owed by Karen Pascoe, who was lost on August 25, 2011 by

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

baggage handlers at

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

before

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 ...

. A campaign called "Jack the Cat is Lost in AA Baggage at JFK" was started by animal lovers to help find him, with over 24,000 Friends of Jack joining the associated Facebook page. Almost two months after he went missing, the campaign designated October 22 "Jack the Cat Awareness Day". The cat was found shortly afterwards on October 25 but was severely

dehydrated In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

and

malnourished Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...

after his 61-day ordeal. Due to

infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...

and injury, Jack was

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

on November 6, 2011.

Disappearance

The clerk responsible for transporting the kennels to the

FIS FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a Se ...

area loaded one kennel on top of another, and while the kennels were stationary and waiting to be loaded on the aircraft, the kennel positioned on the top fell to the ground. The impact of the fall caused the kennel to separate and the cat escaped.

Search

The entire FIS area, where this occurred, was searched and efforts to immediately locate “Jack” were unsuccessful. Subsequent efforts to locate Jack have also been unsuccessful. Some of the efforts taken by AA to locate Jack include: posting photos of Jack in key areas around JFK and local businesses, consulting with the Mayor’s Alliance Society to set up
humane trap Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
s on the airport property, consulting with the port authority and
wildlife management Wildlife management is the management process influencing interactions among and between wildlife, its habitats and people to achieve predefined impacts. It attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best availabl ...
representatives, hiring a professional “ pet tracker” and issuing a “Pet
Amber Alert An Amber Alert (alternatively styled AMBER alert) or a child abduction emergency alert ( SAME code: CAE) is a message distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in finding abducted children. The system originated in ...
”.

However, despite all of the appearances of searching that AA put up, in reality little was done to actually find the cat. Their plan was to "starve him out" so that he would leave the ceiling, and they did indeed succeed; that plan resulted in his death, however. AA also continually deleted posts from their Facebook page and banned people from commenting, as they attempted to cover up the incident.

Discovery

On October 25, 61 days later, Jack fell through the ceiling in the customs area.Baskas, Harrie
"Jack the cat dies after getting lost at JFK."MSNBC
Accessed November 2011.

Death

Jack's death was announced on Facebook:

It is with tears that I must tell you that Jack has gone over the rainbow bridge. (continued in 1st comment) He was with Karen yesterday, and his condition was worsening. He was treated overnight, and she (and I) both had extensive conversations with the vets at Blue Pearl (
BluePearl Veterinary Partners BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital is a company owned by Mars, Incorporated that operates specialty and emergency veterinary hospitals throughout the United States. They currently have hospitals in 29 states, as of early 2022. The fir ...
) regarding his condition. Jack had extensive wounds on the back of his body, and the wounds were unable to heal because his skin had deteriorated due to the malnutrition that occurred while he was lost. Despite antibiotics, the infections were worsening, and his skin was continuing to deteriorate. He needed surgery to treat the wounds, but there was not enough available skin to close the wounds after the surgery. The vet compared his skin condition to having severe burns over 50-60% of his body. The vet was very clear that she had conferred with every possible doctor regarding options for Jack, but none of them left him with a substantial chance of survival and all of them involved him suffering. Jack had been through so much, and the last thing anyone wanted was for him to suffer more. Jack was bathed in love and crossed over just a few minutes ago.

References

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External links