Guy Puts His Cat Through X-Ray Machine At LAX, Everyone Freaks Out

No cats here. Whew. (JessicaKRoach)

Something important you should probably add to your check list when traveling with a pet: Make sure your furry friend doesn’t go through the X-ray machine at the airport, not only because it could be dangerous, but because everyone around you will promptly freak out. Officials at Los Angeles Airport say a traveler accidentally placed his cat in a bag during the security screening procedure, but agents say it seems the fuzzy guy is perfectly fine.

Transportation Security Administration officers discovered the pet when a JetBlue passenger placed his bag — not a pet carrier — on the conveyor belt to go through the X-ray machine, an LAX Police Department spokeswoman told NBC Los Angeles.

TSA officers took the cat out of the bag and determined it hadn’t suffered any harm for its short ride, while the passenger told a supervisor that he didn’t know animals weren’t supposed to go through X-ray machines.

Witnesses nearby promptly reported the incident on social media, Tweeting that folks were pretty much freaking out left and right. Comedian and writer Sara Benincasa and the Sklar Brothers (or perhaps just one of them?) were on-hand and issued a number of Tweets about the incident:

Standing in front of guy at TSA. I hand him a bin. I turn away and go through the scanner. I hear screams. HE PUT HIS CAT IN THE BIN.

— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) July 1, 2015

I have seen people pulled out of the TSA line for knives. Guns. I have never seen the rage of the TSA when dude just put his cat in the XRay

— Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) July 1, 2015

The amount of screaming that's happening in the Jet Blue terminal at LAX is incredible right now and yet it feels completely appropriate.

— The Sklar Brothers (@SklarBrothers) July 1, 2015

The Sklar Brothers Twitter account later added that the traveler in question was on their flight, noting for any interested parties that he was wearing a fedora.

Gawker points out that this isn’t the first time a cat has taken a wild ride through the X-ray machine at LAX — another pet was put on the conveyor belt earlier this week, according to Twitter, at least:

I have now seen everything. A woman trying to put a live cat, no cage, through the xray thing at LAX security. Officers suddenly screaming!

— The Obvious Hiker (@ObviousHiker) June 30, 2015

LAX X-Ray Machine Reveals Cat in Passenger’s Luggage [NBC Los Angeles]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist