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Amtrak Plans to Return Cat Taken From Passenger at Penn Station

By DNAinfo Staff on January 8, 2011 11:35am  | Updated on January 10, 2011 6:52am

Alexandra Kroutchinina, 75, who speaks Russian, was forced to hand over her gray Tabby cat, Mimi, to Amtrak employees after they said she couldn't board with a pet.
Alexandra Kroutchinina, 75, who speaks Russian, was forced to hand over her gray Tabby cat, Mimi, to Amtrak employees after they said she couldn't board with a pet.
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Courtesy Margarita Stolbikova

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN —An elderly woman whose pet cat was taken from her by Amtrak officials at Penn Station will be reunited with her beloved tabby Monday.

Amtrak officials who took Alexandra Kroutchinina's year-old cat Mimi Dec. 15 after telling her the puss wasn't allowed to travel, said the pet will be returned to Penn Station for a reunion with its owner.

"Alexandra is so happy," said Margarita Stolbikova, Kroutchinina's granddaughter, who has tried to find Mimi for weeks.

"That's great news. We're trying to arrange a pickup," she said.

Kroutchinina, 75, was returning home to Montreal, Canada, after visiting family in North Carolina when the cat was taken as she made a train transfer at Penn Station.

She said that Amtrak personnel hadn't made any objections to her cat traveling on the train during the first leg of her trip from Washington, D.C. to New York.

A Russian-speaker, Kroutchinina said she had trouble understanding the rule that only service animals could board Amtrak trains.

Amtrak officials said Mimi had spent the last few weeks being cared for by an unnamed individual on Long Island.

Although workers followed company rules barring pets from trains when they first took the cat, they worked hard to reunite Mimi with her owner when they heard of Kroutchinina's distress, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said.

"Upon learning of Ms. Kroutchinina's situation, immediate steps were taken by Amtrak personnel to safely return her pet as soon as possible," Cole said.

"We are delighted to be able to assist in bringing this situation to a satisfactory conclusion, and we certainly apologize for any inconvenience," he said.

Stolbikova said she and Kroutchinina were planning to drive from Montreal to pick Mimi up on Monday.