How This CA Amazon Customer Returns Worker Reunited A Returned Kitty With Its Utah Family

CORONA, CA—Riverside County Amazon Returns worker and part-time cat rescuer Brandy Hunter calls Galena, the calico cat who came into her care, "a miracle kitty."

The cat survived a 650-mile journey from Utah to the Mira Loma Amazon returns facility in Jurupa Valley in mid-April, inside a box filled with boots. Startled workers attempted but failed to round up the terrified cat, and called Hunter for help, though she had clocked out for the day.

According to the manifest, the cat had been inside the box without food or water for about seven days when she was found, as it was in the back of a large shipping container.

Hunter finished her drive home to grab her cat carrier, a blanket, some food, and water dishes and drove back to work to see if she could catch the kitty. When she arrived, she found " the gorgeous, petrified cat huddled in the training room," Hunter wrote.

According to the post, the cat allowed itself to be rescued. She was all but silent, barely meowing, but trusted people while in obvious distress from the harrowing experience, Hunter said. "She walked right over to the pet carrier and did not fight to get into it."

But how had the cat gotten inside the box of boots? Hunter hoped it was an accident. "We've gotten some crazy things (at Amazon Returns), but never anything like this," Hunter said.

Meanwhile, she set about feeding and loving on the kitty and seeing if she could locate the owner. Luckily, the owners microchipped the kitty, and the veterinarian found their phone number and a Utah address.

With the phone call came much emotion. The cat suddenly had a name. Galena. Owner Carrie Clark pieced together the mysterious disappearance. By the end of the call, everyone was crying, according to Hunter.

"The family was missing Galena something fierce," Hunter said.

When they could not find Galena at home on April 10, Clark started posting missing signs and social messages with pictures of their 6-year-old calico kitty with unique markings.

They searched their whole neighborhood to no avail, never suspecting they had mistakenly sent her off with the returns.

When Clark learned that's what happened "she thought she was being pranked," Hunter said.

They broke down once the family realized the cat was alive and had traveled by Amazon box to California. "So did I, right in the middle of the vet's office."

Due to the length of time she was trapped, Galena was malnourished and dehydrated, needing an IV for fluids. Still, everyone was hopeful she would make a full recovery with no internal issues and nothing broken.

"This is one strong and amazing cat," Hunter said. "She has been through (it), and it is an absolute miracle that she survived."

The next day, the family was reunited with the kitty in a story that has gone international.

Clark agreed, telling media outlets that it was God's grace that the cat survived, and Brandy and the microchip are the reasons Galena found her way back into the loving arms of her family.