Cat owner pleads for help after Lyft driver zooms off with his pet still in the car

A devastated cat owner sought the help of internet users after their Lyft driver drove off with their pet cat still in the car and it went missing for days.

The incident occurred on Saturday (30 September) in Austin, Texas, when Palash Pandey was taking his cat Tux to the vet. When the car arrived at the destination, Pandey got out but the vehicle drove off before he could retrieve his cat carrier with Tux inside.

Pandey said he began chasing the vehicle and even banged on the windows but it was no use. Attempts to call the driver also failed as his calls were initially ignored. When the driver eventually picked up, Pandey claims he said he had no idea of the cat’s whereabouts.

With no luck, Pandey turned to X/Twitter to ask Lyft, and other platform users, for help, explaining what had happened in a series of posts that quickly went viral.

His initial tweet has been viewed almost 6.5 million times. In it, Pandey explained: “@AskLyft My Lyft driver drove off with my pet cat still in the car.

“I was taking my cat to a vet appointment, I was sitting behind the driver and had the cat carrier on the floor of the passenger side back seat.”

He continued: “I got off from the driver's side door and started walking to the passenger side door to pick her up. Before I could open the door, the driver started driving. I banged on the back and passenger windows and screamed running behind him but he drove off.”

Pandey shared screenshots of his urgent attempts to contact the driver but his calls and messages appear to have been ignored.

By the following day, there was still no update on Tux’s location and Pandey continued to tweet Lyft for some assistance in finding his beloved pet. He also shared a missing poster with a picture of Tux on it for Austin-based folks to keep an eye out for.

Thankfully, Pandey was able to provide the update everyone was hoping for and confirmed Tux was found on 2 October near the building of a real estate agency outside of her carrier, which has not been found.

He wrote: “She looks very tired, is covered in fleas and dehydrated. She started eating wet food again which is a good sign but I’ll monitor her and take her to the vet as soon as she calms down and stabilizes a bit. I would update again once I hear from the vet.”

Responding to a tweet he was tagged in, the CEO of Lyft, David Risher, explained that he was aware the response from his company was poor to begin with.

Risher said: “The initial response was awful. Since then, we've done a lot behind the scenes, but I know we haven’t communicated enough. We’re very focused on this and will keep the community up to date.”

Following the update, he wrote: “Very good news. Thanks to all who pitched in.”

It comes after one cat owner was left livid after a neighbour neutered their pet without their permission.

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