It was a wonderful 14-hour flight from Canada to New Zealand, when a cat-loving woman was found smuggling a cat in her carry-on luggage. The woman was trying to bring with her the four-year-old cat named Bella to the New Zealand for a holiday vacation.
However, the Ministry for Primary Industries said that the woman will never be allowed to enter the country due to the smuggled cat that she forced to bring across the pacific. The woman declared that what she brought was a pair of "dirty boots" then later confessed when found out that it was her cat.
The woman was very reluctant to have her bag undergo the X-ray scanner while telling the airport officials that the luggage as already been checked. Craig Hughes, the spokesperson of the Ministry for Primary Industries said that the woman shall be sent back to Canada and will not be allowed to join the flight, the News reported.
She was then forced to return to the first available flight back to Canada. However, it was not the first time that Canadian pets were smuggled in the airport. It was also early this year that a small gecko was also found hiding inside a carry-on luggage of one of its passengers.
Due to such incident, the New Zealand customs has already become strict about their regulations for passengers who would try to import pets in their flight. Mashable also reported that the cat was very quiet and behave during the inspection and must have been given a drug to make it drowsy the entire time. This adds another red flag to what the woman did.
Hughes emphasized that bringing of domestic animals are strictly prohibited as it may bring ticks and diseases that are not present in New Zealand. He also said that the woman was upset after being sent back home by the New Zealand Customs.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
