The lack of curiosity killed a cat in Russia recently, when train staff threw it out of the locomotive and into a snowy environment without thinking that it could have belonged to a passenger on board.
The feline’s death sparked outrage on Russian social media, with users accusing different parties for its tragic fate.
Many blamed the conductor who found the cat wandering in the train, while others accused the cat’s owners, presumably for being irresponsible. Yet others pointed the finger at the train company, Russian Railways (RZD), for how it handles animals.
The incident occurred on Jan 11. The cat named Twix was travelling with its owner’s stepfather from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg to St Petersburg.
Less than halfway through the journey, Twix escaped from its travel crate, the BBC reported. Some passengers said they spotted it walking through a carriage.
Twix eventually encountered a female conductor. Thinking Twix was a stray, the conductor threw the ginger-and-white cat into the snow during a stop at the Russian city of Kirov, about 800km north-east of Moscow.
There are conflicting reports about what transpired next, according to news website RT.
The family of the deceased cat said the stepfather reached out to conductors immediately after the train left Kirov. Other media reports said he noticed the cat’s disappearance only hours later.
There were also differing accounts about what had happened to Twix.
The conductor insisted the cat had simply run off. However, closed-circuit TV footage from railway station cameras showed a person throwing the feline off the train.
That footage circulated widely on social media, RT reported, after which hundreds of volunteers began a search for Twix in areas around Kirov’s railway station.
More than a week after its disappearance, Twix’s body was found on Jan 20 and identified by its owners.
Some reports said Twix died from an animal bite and frostbite.
According to the BBC, many areas of Russia were hit by a cold spell at the time. Kirov, for example, had recorded temperatures as low as minus 30 deg C.
One of Twix’s owners told state media he planned to take legal action.
An online petition has garnered at least 200,000 signatures demanding the sacking of the female conductor, who has not been identified.
Another petition, which has received more than 64,000 signatures, is calling for criminal proceedings to be launched against her.
However, the local police have so far refused to do so, RT reported. The authorities said no criminal offence has been committed.
Meanwhile, Russian Railways has apologised for the incident. It pledged to review its rules on transporting animals.
“Conductors will be prohibited from kicking animals (out) from the train... Provisions will be made to hand over the animals to workers at stop points, followed by calling representatives of animal protection organisations,” the company said in a statement.
