After Week on Lam at JFK, Sly Cat Is Busted

Pepper got loose as owner was about to board flight to China on April 20
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2018 9:03 AM CDT
After Week on Lam at JFK, Sly Cat Is Busted
A different cat pokes his head out from his pet carrier travel bag on his way to John F. Kennedy International Airport Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, in New York.   (AP Photo/Tali Arbel)

There's missing your flight, and then there's the tale of Pepper the cat, whose weeklong romp at John F. Kennedy International Airport has now come to an end: The 4-year-old escaped her owner, who was about to board a flight to China as part of her move there, on April 20, and her freedom was only curtailed on Saturday. "Initially, I was just sad," Kameel Juman, the Port Authority officer who finally busted the tabby, tells CBS News. "I just thought if I lost one of my dogs, I’d be very upset." After various sightings of the cat, Juman worked with the owner's friend, Nuan Tang, to capture the cat. What finally worked: Tang, armed with food, calling the cat by her Mandarin name. "She came to me and started eating the food. So that’s when I grabbed her," said Tang. "I was so happy." Pepper will stay with Tang until her owner returns from China to fetch her. (More cats stories.)

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