A cat made a journey half way around the world and survived.
The cat was found in a shipping container almost 4,000 miles away in Belgium, and it's believed the journey started in Baltimore, according to several Belgian news outlets.
An employee of Gosselin Group in Deurne, Belgium, made the discovery. He said the box hadn't been opened since it left the U.S. and that it's likely the animal was in the box for nearly four weeks without food or water and surviving off of bugs.
Sven Van Dyck, a spokesman for Gosselin Group, said the company is "glad we have coworkers with a heart for animals."
"When they discovered the cat they were able to capture it fast due to its weakened state. They provided the animal immediately with food and liquids and went to the vet for a complete checkup the same evening. Other than weakened the cat seemed in a decent shape," Van Dyck said in an email.
"Meanwhile Gosselin has backtracked the movement of the household move and the shipment and was able to contact everybody involved to ask whether someone was missing a pet. All the answers came back negative which led to the conclusion that the animal was ‘boarded’ during the loading of the container in the U.S.," he said.
Richard Scher, a spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration, was not able to say how the cat got into the container.
"Containers exported through here are sealed somewhere else, so the cat found it's way in there from somewhere else," he said.
Despite the journey, the cat, now named Lola, seems to be doing well in her new home with the Gosselin employee who discovered her.
"I'm certainly happy that Lola survived the journey, but we simply just don't know where she would've found her way in," Scher said.
Van Dyck said the household goods of the people moving were never harmed as the cat was found in between cases.
"Gosselin lives up to the highest standards and will deliver the goods in the same shape as they were packed. Next to the high standards we now officially have a heart for animals,” he said.
