Anyone who has traveled with a pet knows it can be a very stressful experience for animal and human alike. Most often, all goes well, and our furry friends arrive perhaps a little frazzled but in good shape. Unfortunately, sometimes tragedy strikes, and a pet ends up lost, as was the case with a cat in the care of Boliviana De Aviacion in December.However, it is even rarer, at least to our knowledge, that when such an instance occurs, the government owning the airline in question goes about acquiring the services of a psychic to localize the precious four-legged cargo. And yet, that is precisely what the Bolivian Ministry of Justice has done.

Interspecies communicator working remotely

As reported by Pagina Siete last week, the Bolivian government has contracted an "interspecies communicator" to help track down the whereabouts of Tito the cat, who went missing in transit last month on a domestic flight between Tarija International Airport (TJA) and Santa Cruz International Airport (VVI).

According to the publication, the psychic is working remotely from La Paz and has contacted the cat's guardian (anyone who has a feline knows there is no such thing as 'owner') to say that they sense that Tito is alive.

Andrea Iturre, who was on her way with Tito to Ireland, was shocked and devastated to discover upon arrival at Santa Cruz that the kennel was empty. The airline first gave up searching for the cat after ten days, but in a later meeting, agreed to keep paying the expenses Iturre incurred as she stayed in Tarija to search for Tito, together with a group of volunteers. According to reports by Bolivian media, lawyers were brought in to make BoA take responsibility.

Unusual for a cat to go in the hold

Cats are generally small animals (apart from the Maine Coons of the world), and usually, they are allowed to travel in the cabin, under the seat in front of the passenger bringing them. However, when Iturre tried to bring Tito onboard the BoA aircraft, crew told her she could not, and the kennel was sent to the belly of the plane.

Following lengthy delays in which she was reportedly denied seeing her cat, the plane took off, apparently, one four-legged passenger too light. You can read more about the immediate proceedings and Iturre's statement on the airline's lack of support in this article.

BoA fined by authorities

At the beginning of January, BoA was fined by the Authority for the Regulation and Supervision of Telecommunications and Transportation (ATT) for the mishandling of Tito's transportation to the sum of Bs 50,000 ($7,242). As reported the Urgente, the Director of the ATT, Néstor Rios, commented,

“We have initiated a sanctioning process against BoA, we have initiated investigations to establish whether the procedures and protocols have been breached in transport. We have managed to establish that there has been a breach of the procedure whose effect, we have decided to file charges against the BoA company for a sanction of Bs 50,000”

He further added that some conciliation had been achieved between the airline and Iturre, saying,

"We understand that nothing is going to compensate for the life of a pet, a family member, but in administrative proceedings we have managed to reconcile, we have managed to get the parties to find a solution."

The ATT also stated that Tito's disappearance has sparked a review of airline protocol for transporting animals.

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Source: Pagina Siete, Urgente