Kitten survives China-Canada shipping

CALGARY, Alberta, July 9 (UPI) -- Workers at a Canadian import business said a cat was trapped in a container shipped from China for as many as 45 days.

Amy Bindman, an interior designer at Calgary, Alberta, import business ICON Stone and Tile, said the calico cat survived the journey from China, which she said takes an average 30 to 45 days, in a steel shipping container loaded with granite slabs and wood bracing, the Calgary Herald reported Friday.

Bindman said the animal was "pretty distressed and very, very thin." She said it also appeared the feline "had been meowing for weeks."

"We had to empty the entire container before being able to reach the cat, because (she) jumped and hid in a corner that was unreachable," Bindman said.

She said the cat, named Mandarin in honor of its trip from China, was turned over to the Calgary Humane Society.

Humane Society spokeswoman Desiree Arsenault said she was unsure of how the animal managed to survive the journey without food or water.

"There may have been mice or things running round the enclosure. ... I can only guess," Arsenault said.