A domestic short-hair cat was left “terrified” after being abandoned by his owner at an airport in Lebanon.
A video showing the cat hiding from passersby went viral on TikTok, with many viewers calling for the owner to be “held accountable” for the abandonment.
Veterinarian Rana Hamieh, who heard about the abandoned cat, rushed to the airport to rescue him. In a TikTok video, she captured the moment she found the frightened feline hiding under an escalator railing, captioning it: “You don’t leave family behind!!”
Hamieh explained that the owner didn’t have the proper paperwork for the flight, which led to the decision to abandon the cat at the airport. “He was hiding in this dangerous spot after being kicked around by ignorant kids,” Hamieh added. “He just wants to be safe.”
Hamieh was informed about the situation by a friend who works at the airport. In the video, she shared an image—likely sent to her by the friend—showing the cat curled up in a ball by the self-check-in area, abandoned beside a pile of discarded luggage.
“He was absolutely terrified,” Hamieh told Newsweek. “Poor baby was very scared due to all the commotion around him.”
After rescuing the cat, Hamieh gave him a full check-up, noting a few trauma injuries but assuring that “thankfully there was no internal bleeding.”
In a follow-up video on TikTok, Hamieh assured viewers that the cat was now safe and in foster care. She explained that while she had other rescue cats in treatment, it wasn’t feasible for her to keep him. “Thankfully, he’s doing great at foster care and hopefully he’ll get adopted soon! He’s such a strong, resilient boy, and he made a swift recovery considering all the trauma he had to endure.”
Related Topics
