Pepper the cat should have left on a jet plane Friday afternoon, but instead she was left at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
According to CBS New York, the tabby cat was scheduled to board a flight with her owner to China, but escaped her carrier during check-in and got loose inside the airport’s sprawling Terminal 4.
The Port Authority police are still searching for the feline, reports New York Daily News, but unfortunately the 4-year-old cat’s owner is not searching with them.
A friend of Pepper’s pet parent told the paper that the owner had to get on a flight to China even though her feline was still MIA. The friend, who added that Pepper’s mom is a lawyer, said the owner was moving to China and was devastated to leave her cat behind.
Authorities are hoping to find Pepper, who was last seen hopping onto the roof of a check-in kiosk, so they can eventually reunite her with her owner, who missed her initial flight while searching for the cat.
To help animal lovers keep a look out, a friend of Pepper’s owner posted a photo of the cat to Twitter and advised everyone that the feline is microchipped. Anyone with information or Pepper sightings should contact the friend with these leads.