Jack (c. 2005 – November 6, 2011) was a

Norwegian forest cat The Norwegian Forest cat ( no, Norsk skogskatt and ) is a breed of domestic cat originating in Northern Europe. This natural breed is adapted to a very cold climate, with a top coat of long, glossy, water-shedding hair and a woolly undercoat ...

, owed by Karen Pascoe, who was lost on August 25, 2011 by

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

baggage handlers at John F. Kennedy International Airport before Hurricane Irene. 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 and malnourished 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 di ...

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) conditio ...

on November 6, 2011.

Disappearance

The clerk responsible for transporting the kennels to the FIS 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 representatives, hiring a professional “
pet tracker A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
” and issuing a “Pet Amber Alert”.

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