NEW YORK — A New York woman is heartbroken as she searches for her beloved cat, whom she calls “my sunshine on a cloudy day.”
Tazzie Lee escaped at JFK Airport after Ellen Russell’s flight to Florida was canceled last month.
The 4-year-old cat got out of her carriage, with Russell saying that “the zipper came open and she jumped,” she told WABC.
Police helped her search and airport workers are keeping an eye out for Tazzie. The airport officials also allowed a cat rescue group to put cameras and food out to lure Tassie home.
Strays and an opossum came by to get something to eat, but Tassie hasn’t.
The airport is “surrounded by water, so the cat does have a large water source and a lot of rats to eat, so it is possible the cat is surviving on the rats,” John Debacker from Long Island Cat Kitten Solutions told WABC.
Russell told the New York Post that it also may be because “she doesn’t like people at all.”
The cat has had anxiety since Russell adopted her four years ago as a kitten. She said that Tazzie Lee was named after the Tasmanian Devil’s temper, which left the black and white cat once she found safety with her owner, she told the Post.
Russell is still holding out hope that Tassie will return, and is offering a $5,000 reward.
“It’s just God awful. I just want to get her back,” she told the newspaper.
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