Today’s story may change what the expression “cat in the bag” means, as it won’t be as metaphorical as it initially suggests. On December 21st, the workers at the Gorkomhoz utility center in Ulyanovsk were surprised to find a cat in a bag, quite literally! The poor kitty in the bag eventually turned out very lucky, and probably used one of his nine lives, as he was picked up from a conveyor belt only a meter away from the separator that processes the trash.

Mikhail Tukash was the person who unknowingly saved the cat. They have to cut and check every bag on the belt line for metals, and as he picked it up, he didn’t suspect what contents he would find, because the cat neither moved, nor meowed. The cat probably used another of his nine lives, as the cut didn’t touch him. Mikhail looked inside and saw a set of beautiful cat eyes looking back at him. And the cat was out of the bag, a beautiful black and white one, at that.

The worker shook his head in disbelief and told everyone around him. They stopped the belt line to take a moment to comprehend what just happened. The cat was well-fed and well-cared for, so he was definitely a house cat and not a stray. They immediately took the cat to the veterinarian to check his health. It was determined that the cat had no injuries and had figuratively “landed on his feet,” as it were, making the reasons for the “disposal” by his previous owners even more unfathomable.

Here’s the crucial moments caught on camera:

He was immediately taken to the vet. He wasn’t harmed. The cat was definitely domestic

Mikhail Tukash, the employee who found the cat, was awarded a bonus

The cat was named as Deputy Minister of the Animal Protection department in Nature and Cyclical Economy Ministry of Ulyanovsk Region

However, the people at Gorkomhoz and Ulyanovsk officials were very happy to have salvaged such an unusual present right before Christmas. Mikhail Tukash, who has two cats of his own, was promised a bonus to his salary, and the cat himself was made a deputy Minister by the Minister of Nature And Cyclical Economy Gulnara Rahmatulina, responsible for the animal department. The cat is still waiting to get a new name along with his new identity and new role in the Ministry.