Texas Cat Found 34 Hours After Lyft Driver Took Off With Her, Triggering Massive Search

After a frantic 34-hour search, Tux the cat is finally home with his owner in Austin, Texas.

Palash Pandey’s shocking story of his beloved black-and-white cat being abducted by a Lyft driver galvanized social media and mobilized a community over the weekend.

According to Pandey, a 23-year-old software designer, he and Tux were separated Saturday while taking a Lyft ride to an appointment at Banfield Pet Hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, Pandey exited the vehicle and began walking around to grab Tux’s carrier from the seat behind the front passenger seat. Before he could open the door, however, the driver drove off.

“I am screaming, ‘Stop, stop! Wait, wait!’ And he just takes off,” Pandey recalled to CBS Austin. “Just walking from one door to another and just doing that he started peeling off. I am running behind him banging on his doors and banging on his windows and he just takes off.”

When the driver failed to respond to his messages, he reported the incident to the Austin Police Department. Hours later, the driver finally replied saying that he was unaware that a cat was ever in his car.

Desperate, Pandey took to social media for help. 

Netizens rallied as flyers went up in the neighborhood and Lyft sent out alerts on its app. Finally, early Monday morning, investigators hired by Lyft found Tux 1.2 miles from the animal hospital. She was reportedly no longer inside her carrier.

“She looks very tired, is covered in fleas, and dehydrated,” Pandey shared on X shortly after Tux was located. “She started eating wet food again which is a good sign but I'll monitor her and take her to the vet as soon as she calms down and stabilizes a bit. I would update again once I hear from the vet.”

Later that afternoon, he provided another happy update: Tux was home from the vet with a “clean bill of health.”

“Thank you everyone for helping,” Pandey wrote. “You guys have restored my faith in the community.”

Lyft provided the following statement to CBS Austin on Monday:

“We are so happy to report that Tux has been reunited with her owner and we are focused on ensuring Tux has everything she needs right now, including covering all of her veterinary bills. We will continue to work directly with Palash to provide the support that they both need. We are actively working with all involved to fully understand the situation—to help prevent it from happening again. We are evaluating our policies to improve support for our community, including in cases like this.”

Speaking with The Washington Post, Pandey said he hopes that Lyft takes steps to ensure that no other pet owner ever has to go through what he did.

“If not for all the people who stopped what they were doing to help me out, I have to wonder if I’d have my cat back,” he said. “It’s restored my faith in people.”