A British couple, who have been living in Greece, have set up a Facebook page to campaign for better pet facilities to be provided by airlines after their cat went missing at Athens Airport. Megan and Kit Peel, who are returning to their North Yorkshire home of Nidderdale, had booked their cats Tancredi and Spartacus onto a British Airways flight bound for London’s Heathrow.

While the cat’s travelling basket was being x-rayed at Athens, Mr Peel was holding onto his pets. However, after allegedly becoming scared, Spartacus broke free of his owner’s grip and made an escape out into the airport’s busy cargo area.

Mr Peel explained that he could not think of a worse place to lose a pet because there was an airport in one direction and a motorway in the other. Both Mr and Mrs Peel are blaming Spartacus’s escape on BA’s “inadequate” airport animal handling facilities.

Spartacus was eventually discovered near the motorway, safe but a little traumatised, according to Mr Peel. According to the couple, at no point did any member of BA’s staff apologise for the loss of their cat. Mr Peel added that the airline had denied all responsibility for losing Spartacus in Athens and has offered no form of compensation.

A statement made by BA said the airline was very pleased Spartacus was safe and well, and pointed out that BA staff had searched for the cat for 45 minutes after it went missing, even trying to coax it out of hiding with dishes of its favourite food. BA pointed out that Spartacus was flown onto Heathrow the next day, free of charge.