Cat found living in couch donated to thrift store

PRICE, Utah — Staff at a thrift store in Price, Utah, found an unexpected guest in a donated couch that could have ended up in a dump.

Tiny One, a male cat, was inside the couch.

His owner, Rachel Barbee, was convinced by her friend Brittnie Arroyo to donate the couch to a thrift store instead of taking the worn couch to the dump.

"I was like, 'Just take it to (Deseret Industries Thrift Store), you never know,'" Arroyo told KUTV. "She would have never seen her cat again if she would have taken it to the dump."
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Barbee is close to Tiny One. She found him as a kitten and nursed him back to health.

The couch was in a holding area of the thrift store.

As employees were about to move the couch, Tiny One ran out into the store. He ran around and explored a bit before letting the employees pick him up.

"This is the first time for this store and a first time for me," store manager Matthew Kemp said.

Employees were trying to figure out how to alert the owner that her cat was at the store.

"We usually give people their donation receipt and don't see them again," Kemp said. "We didn't know exactly what to think about it or do."

An employee suggested posting it to Facebook.

Arroyo saw the post and alerted her friend.

"I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, that's your cat -- you have got to call,'" Arroyo said. "'Rachel, youre cat is at the DI.'"

Barbbee came shortly after the post went up to claim her pet.

Arroyo said that despite the stress of the situation, she and her friend found humor in the situation: "It was pretty funny."

Cox Media Group