A Bizarre Trial

Viennese Man (19) Sent His Cat in the Mail

The 20-year-old packed his cat “Shana” (stock photo) into a cardboard box, mailed it—and was sentenced.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Sophie Pratschner)

The postal worker was quite astonished when a kitten suddenly jumped out of a package at the distribution center in Lower Austria. Unbelievable: A 20-year-old Viennese man simply mailed his feline friend. He claims it was a kidnapping: “The mail carrier took her.” The judge at the Vienna Regional Court doesn’t buy it.

A perfectly normal day at the Austrian Post distribution center in Hagenbrunn (Lower Austria). An employee was sorting through a damaged package; it was partially torn open. Then came the huge shock: a gray cat suddenly jumped out of the box.

The hunt for the cat and the sender
“My coworker called me and said, ‘Please don’t think I’m crazy, but there’s a cat in the logistics center,’” recalls a shipping security employee at the Wiener Landl. So they set out on a cat hunt through the entire hall—fortunately successful, before anything could happen to the animal.

Then the detective work began. Where did the package come from? And after some investigation, it led to a 20-year-old Viennese man. On April 23, 2025, he had three returns to Germany picked up from his home in the 16th district. And in one of them was apparently his pet, along with a bit of cat litter. 

I think I’m being lured into a trap. The cat was kidnapped.

Der angeklagter 19-Jährige ortet einen Krimi.

“Putting a cat in a package and sending it to Germany is what we at the District Attorney’s Office call animal cruelty,” the representative of the agency charges the Thai man, who was born in Austria. After all, the feline had to remain in the box for over 24 hours—without water or any other provisions. 

Owner Accuses Mail Carrier
The 20-year-old has his own—somewhat absurd—version of events: “I think I’m being lured into a trap. The cat was kidnapped.” He claims he left the apartment door open on the day the three returns were picked up from him. “So she could get out,” the young man says.

The 20-year-old packed his cat “Shana” (stock photo) into a box, sent it via mail—and is now facing charges.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Sophie Pratschner)

“Shana,” as his cuddly cat is called, is actually just an indoor cat, along with his second tomcat. “It’s possible that the mail carrier saw her and took her,” he speculates, suggesting a kidnapping mystery.

“Shana” has already been replaced
He discusses this at length with the judge until she loses her temper: “You do realize that even as a defendant, you’re not allowed to accuse anyone of a crime. By doing so, you’re making yourself liable to prosecution again.” The 20-year-old claims the only thing he sent back that day was a guitar—but he couldn’t prove it with a return receipt. The postal records tell a different story. “That’s probably been tampered with.”

The prosecutor sums it up at the end: “The statement is nonsense anyway.” In plain English: nonsense. The judge agrees and sentences the Thai man to six months of probation. The young man announces right there in the courtroom that he’ll appeal to the next court: “I can still prove that I’m innocent.” He’s already replaced his cat “Shana,” who now has a new home. By the way, he didn’t really look for her either.