The cat, who mysteriously reappeared a week later, was in poor condition.
A pet cat, believed to be taken by an Amazon driver, is now back with his family but in poor health.
“I'm happy he's home, but I'm also worried,” says Chelsea Oakes of Aurora, Colorado. “He’s not the same. He doesn't let us hold him. He will not let you pick him up. I was trying to give him his medicine and he was growling at me, which is not something he normally does very often. He sits there and he shakes and he shivers.”
Chelsea says one day she realized she hadn’t seen her cat, an indoor/outdoor Siamese cat named Pyro, in a few days. So she checked her surveillance camera to see “when the last time he was around.” That’s when she noticed on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023 an Amazon driver squatting down to pet Pyro. “I heard him say, 'My friend lost a cat like this recently,' she says of the sound she heard on her Ring camera. A few minutes later, video shows the Amazon driver picking up the cat, taking it into the truck and driving off.
Immediately, she contacted Amazon for some answers. First, Chelsea said they asked for the package tracking information.
“I'm so sorry for your family and for your kitty Pyro, I really hope Pyro is returned as soon as possible to your family. I'm currently collaborating with the local delivery station to ensure this is fully investigated and the appropriate actions taken. In the meantime, if you have any photo or video evidence of the incident you'd be willing to share, it would be invaluable to the delivery station’s management team during their investigation. If you’d take the time to respond to this email and attach the requested evidence, it would be appreciated,” read an email received by Chelsea’s mom, who is the account holder.
“Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. If you would be interested in the $200 Amazon gift card for fliers to help find Pyro, you can reply to this e-mail to let us know. We are actively working on trying to get further information on Pyro's whereabouts, and we will keep you updated as we get further information,” said another email.
In the meantime, Chelsea asked other Amazon drivers who were in her neighborhood to help. She got in touch with someone she was told identified as a supervisor. “[He] said that he had just spoke to the driver. He was aware of the situation. He said that he lived in the area and that his roommate lost a cat that looked just like it. He thought it was his roommate's cat and realized later that night that it wasn't, and that they brought him back to our house that night,” Chelsea recalled of the conversation.
Only the cat wasn’t back. Chelsea says Pyro suddenly reappeared on Sunday, Aug. 27 around 9 p.m. “We were sitting on the back porch making dinner. All of a sudden, I hear his meow.” she recalls. “I went on [my Ring] camera and there was headlights at the end of our street, but the car never came up the street and circled around. It was before [Pyro] appeared.”
Pyro, according to Chelsea, was in poor condition.
“You could see every single vertebrae in his back. His sides were sunk in. You could see his ribs, you could see his hip bones. He was limping. His pupils were so big, you couldn't even see the color of his eyes. The light in the house was actually hurting his eyes so he kept squinting. He ate probably two bowls of food,” she says of Pyro when returned.
A visit to the veterinarian cost her $91.56. She’s hoping Amazon will foot the bill.
“I want them to take ownership of the entire situation. They know what their driver did. They have video of it. They told me that,” she says.
"And they need to pay the vet bill. Because my cat would not be like this and injured and sick if it was not for their driver.”
