Cat Travels 7K Miles to Reunite With Ukrainian Girl in US

Arsenii was transported by motorcycle, car, and plane to get back to Agnessa, 10, now in Calif.
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 29, 2022 9:30 AM CDT

When Maria Bezhenar and her family fled Odesa, Ukraine, in February as Russian forces invaded their homeland, they were forced to leave behind some "precious belongings," per KHON2. Among those items: their family pets, including their cat, Arsenii. The family of six—Bezhenar, her mother, her husband Aleksander, and their three daughters—first fled to Romania, then eventually made their way to California via a program that helps refugees find shelter in the United States, per CBS News. The family's welcome to the Golden State was a warm one, and they've since adopted a new cat, but the Bezhenars' youngest daughter, 10-year-old Agnessa, still desperately missed Arsenii, whom they'd left with Bezhenar's brother-in-law in Ukraine.

"This little kitten is OK with me ... but what about Arsenni?" Bezhenar said her daughter told her, per KPRC. And so Agnessa's mom sprung into action, contacting a flight attendant she'd chatted with on their flight to the US. That flight attendant contacted a colleague, Caroline Viola, who tells KHON2, "All I could think of was, 'My god, we got a war-torn country here and you want me to get a cat out." But Viola contacted an animal rescuer friend, who in turn contacted one of her friends, also in animal rescue, who was vacationing in Europe and agreed to go pick up the cat, which had been vaccinated, microchipped, and set up with a pet passport by Bezhenar's brother-in-law so it could travel. The brother-in-law transported Arsenii, who made the trip in a backpack, by motorcycle to Moldova; a driver then took the cat to the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

The animal rescuer picked up Arsenii in Romania and they traveled to Athens, then took a flight to Montreal, then to Seattle, and finally, to San Francisco International Airport, where Agnessa and her family were anxiously waiting. Many months and 7,000 miles later, Arsenii was placed in the arms of her excited young owner. Agnessa "couldn't believe her cat was there," Bezhenar tells KPRC. "I know it is unreal and who knows what [happened] during all this time and journey, but my heart was full of hope." Watch the reunion and more about Arsenii's global journey here. (More uplifting news stories.)

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