Wellington SPCA / Wairarapa Times-Age
The unfortunate run-in delayed the train for 30 minutes while the injured manager received medical attention and KiwiRail found a replacement driver. According to KiwiRail's Communications Manager, Nigel Parry, the conductor was trying to safely remove the cat from the train in order to take it to the SPCA.
As many cat owners have learned the hard way, cats and travel generally don't mix, especially the part where you try to force them into a box.
"It's very unusual indeed," Parry told the Times-Age. "In fact, when I spoke to the train manager after his hand had been bandaged up he said he had been working in trains for four decades and it was first time he has been attacked by a cat." Again, we wonder how many times in those four decades the train manager has tried to put a strange cat in a box.
KiwiRail officials believe the cat may have boarded the train somewhere in the Wairarapa region near Wellington. The train company is currently searching for the cat's proper owner, though not to send them the conductor's medical bills, or even a bill for the cat's unpaid ticket.
"We have no intention to charge a fare and we are obviously appealing for the owner to contact the Wellington SPCA for its return," Parry tells the Times-Age, "We can also assure we won't be charging the owner a fare."
Most cats have a desperate fear of travel; they can't stand cars, they detest airplanes, and they bemoan the bus, but what about trains? This adventurous kitty certainly didn't want to give up his seat. Maybe he was excited about getting to visit one of world's greatest beer drinking cities?
Trains and adventure certainly do go together. This article on Gadling about Australia's transcontinental railroad is proof!
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