Tampa, FL, May 08, 2004
China, a stowaway, survived a month long cargo container trip from China to Florida.
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China cat may have come to the United States in a 40-foot shipping container, but she traveled to her new home in Tampa in a limousine. On May 8, China went home with her adopted family - Randy and Marta Lyons, along with their sons Joshua, age 10, and Stephan, 9.
The Lyons family was chosen to adopt the cat because Randy's application was first in line, and it passed the necessary criteria. The family has two other cats.
An 8-month-old cat that landed on its feet in the United States after being trapped for nearly a month in an international shipping container sent from China to a business on Busch Boulevard, has brought out the best in everyone.
A pet supply company, Ultra Pet, has offered to donate 100 bags of cat litter to Animal Services and a one-year supply of litter to the adopter. The company also is in the process of trying to schedule a limousine ride for China and her new family.
The cat was discovered by Norman Goldburg, who received a 40-foot cargo shipping container from China on April 9. Upon opening the container, employees discovered damaged merchandise inside as well as a cat that ran into the warehouse. Goldburg called Hillsborough County Animal Services to retrieve the cat.
Called "China" by Animal Services staff, the female calico weighed only 3 pounds. Now she is up to 4 pounds, 7 ounces, and has been vaccinated and microchipped. When she gets a little stronger, she will be spayed. The Humane Society has donated a spay/neuter certificate to the adoptive family.
When contacted by a local television reporter and told that Animal Services had the cat, Ms. Ivy from Dayang Company in China asked which cat it was in an e-mail: “You gave us a very big suprise today. We are very happy to know our cat still alive. Would you please tell us more information about our cat? Is it a yellow or grey one? because we have two cats, but they disappeared one month ago, we spent lots of time to find them, but failed. Have you fed it? Please raise it, or you can give it to animal asylum.”
The story about China spread through media outlets across the United States, generating e-mails from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia:
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