A Canadian woman who authorities say hid her four-year-old pet cat Bella in her handbag during a flight across the Pacific Ocean had her vacation cut short when border agents discovered the ruse at Auckland Airport.
New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman Craig Hughes yesterday said that the woman was refused entry into the country and was forced to catch the next flight home with her cat after she tried to smuggle it across the border.
He called the woman’s actions “reckless and dangerous.”
New Zealand has strict regulations for importing pets. Cats and dogs from most approved countries must have an implanted microchip and be kept in quarantine for a minimum of 10 days after arrival.
Hughes said the woman and her husband, both in their mid to late 20s, concealed the cat from the flight crew and other passengers during the 11,300km flight from Vancouver to Auckland.
“Apparently it was a very quiet cat. Very docile,” Hughes said, adding that it might have been given some drugs to make it drowsy.
When the couple arrived at the airport, they said they had nothing to declare, according to Hughes.
He said border agents then determined they had muddy boots that needed inspecting.
Agents then moved the couple’s bags to an X-ray machine.
Hughes said the woman was “very reluctant” to have her small handbag X-rayed and insisted it had already been checked.
She finally admitted there was a cat inside, Hughes said.
However, she said she had told a ticketing agent about Bella when she purchased her ticket, according to Hughes.
Hughes said that even if the woman’s story were true, which he doubted, it was still unacceptable to bring a cat across the border without declaring it.
He said foreign cats could bring with them ticks and diseases that are not present in New Zealand.
He said that the woman got upset about being sent back home.
“She had plans to have a nice holiday with her husband in New Zealand,” Hughes said.
“And her cat,” he added.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number