Kittens Stowed Away In Shipping Container Find Safety At Orland Rescue

ORLAND PARK, IL — Two stowaway kittens who made quite the entrance into Illinois after being stuck in a shipping container for what's believed to be five days are safe now, and in the care of an Orland rescue group.

The two male kittens—one a brown tabby and one all black—caught a truck driver off guard late last month, when he opened the container for delivery at Sam's Club in Oswego. There, staring back at him—and hissing loudly—was a black cat.

"'I don't know what to do,'" the driver told staff at JAS Trucking in Alsip, said employee Martyna Fundament. "There's a black cat in there hissing at me."

The container had arrived after a nearly five-day long transport via train, then truck, originating in Georgia. Fundament was befuddled. How did a cat get in there, and how did it survive, she wondered. Sam's Club would not accept the shipment due to a live animal inside, so Fundament told the driver to bring the whole shipment to the company's main facility in Alsip.

There, they opened it again, to find not one, but two sets of eyes peering back at them from under a pallet.

"They were so cute, their eyes were so big, and they were so scared," Fundament said.

Martyna purchased and set a live trap, placed some food inside, hoping to lure the pair out from under their pallet. The tabby came first, then the black one. They were young—approximately 10 weeks old at the time—and feral. It was a task unlike anything Fundament had ever undertaken, she said. A half-dozen people watched as they attempted to bring the kittens to safety.

"I never experienced anything like that," she said. "The first thing through my mind was 'how did they even survive, it gets so hot in those containers.'

"I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, my heart was just breaking when I knew these cats were stuck in that container."

Atop the pallet the kittens hid underneath, was a shipment of cracker snack packs. They were open, and crackers were loose on the floor of the container. It's possible the kittens tried to break into the stash, Fundament said. Still, it's remarkable they lived.

"I don’t know how they survived without water," she said, "and being so hot in there."

The challenges continued after they were crated. Phone calls to rescues or shelters to take in the kittens were unsuccessful—either facilities were full, or they wouldn't take the pair because they were feral. A coworker was able to house them for a few days, buying them some time. They kept hitting roadblocks, until they connected with Beata Zabrinas, of One Goal Animal Foundation in Orland Park.

"We were losing hope," Fundament said. "We didn’t know what to do.

"We were so lucky we found her, finally."

When Zabrinas heard a voicemail from Fundament's coworker Agata Padula, she was compelled both by the kittens' story—but truthfully also by their shared Polish heritage, evident by the last name.

"I have to call this girl back," Zabrinas remembers thinking.

The relief on the line was palpable.

"She almost started crying when I told her we would help her out with them," Zabrinas said.

Padula had taken the kittens into her home briefly, and Zabrinas agreed to take them from there. But the kittens weren't going to make it easy on them, Zabrinas said, laughing. The two were in a room at Padula's home, and kept hiding under a bed. They set another live trap, but the two somehow surreptitiously snuck the food from inside it, without triggering it, Zabrinas said, chuckling.

Finally, the gloves—or in this case, oven mitts—were on, and the kittens were caught for the next stop in their interesting journey.

One Goal Animal Foundation is based in Orland Park. It was previously primarily foster-based, but its staff recently leased building space at 11310 W. Southwest Hwy.

Zabrinas named the brown tabby Choo-Choo, and the black kitten Track—a nod to how they arrived in Illinois in the first place. Their skittish natures and lack of trust in humans continued to show, but Zabrinas was undeterred.

"As soon as I put them in the crate, they climbed up it, were staring at me and hissing," Zabrinas said. "After a few days of talking to them, sitting there, they started coming out for food."

"Now I've moved them to the adoption center, so they can keep getting socialized," Zabrinas said. "One of them I can pick up, the other one not quite yet. But they’re getting there."

The space at One Goal Animal Foundation has now been transformed into a free-roam cat adoption center and lounge. Cats have the entire space to explore, and the rescue will allow visitors to come, spend time with the cats, and get to know them in an environment that closely simulates that of a home. Cat trees and toys are placed throughout the space, and the cats have the run of it night and day. The organization will eventually charge $10/hour to spend time with the cats. Coffee will be provided, hoping that people will take a moment to enjoy time with the furry faces—maybe potentially even find a new best friend.

Choo-Choo and Track aren't quite ready for adoption yet, Zabrinas said, and they're quite bonded. Their personalities come out a bit more each day, she said, though she still works consistently to coax them out of their shells. They are crated in the lounge area, as part of consistent and steady efforts to increasingly socialize them. She estimates they're about four months old. Even determining their sexes was a hurdle, she said, because for some time, they would not allow her to touch them.

"Choo-Choo, he comes up to the front of the cage a lot, it looks like he wants to interact with other cats," she said. "He looks like he’s going to be pretty outgoing.

"Track is going to be a little bit more shy, at least for now."

Zabrinas said the rescue maintains its website and Facebook page with current updates about the kittens, and all its adoptable cats.

"They would benefit from going into a foster home," Zabrinas said, "If someone has experience working with kittens, maybe they'd have a little bit more attention."

One Goal Animal Foundation can be reached at 708-256-5000, or onegoalanimalfoundation@gmail.com.