Thrift store in Utah finds cat hiding in couch

PRICE, Utah-- A Utah woman is thankful her friend convinced her to donate her couch to a local thrift store instead of taking it to a dump, because her beloved cat was hiding inside when it was dropped off,CBS affiliate KUTV reported.

Brittnie Arroyo was helping her friend Rachel Barbee move on Saturday. Throughout the day they had been donating boxes of items to the Deseret Industries in Price, Utah.

When it came to getting rid of her worn couch, Barbee figured she should just take it to the dump because no one would want it.

"I was like just take it to the D.I., you never know," Arroyo told KUTV. "She would have never seen her cat again if she would have taken it to the dump."

Arroyo said they packed up the couch in the truck and had it sitting there for about 25 minutes before they took it to the thrift store. They didn't hear a "meow" or anything from the male cat known as "Tiny One," who was hiding in the couch.

Barbee and Arroyo weren't home long enough before they realized the cat was missing.

When they were eating, they saw a post on Facebook that someone had shared. Arroyo laughed and thought it was funny that someone donated a cat and a couch at the D.I., but then she recognized the cat. It was Tiny One.

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

Barbee yelled in amazement, "My baby!"

Price Desert industries Store Manager Matthew Kemp told KUTV that this is something that doesn't happen every day.

"This is the first time for this store and a first time for me," he said.

His employees at the central Utah store unloaded the couch and put it in a holding area. They said they were about ready to put the couch inside when Tiny One came running out from underneath the couch. After some running around, it let the employees pick it up.

They had no idea what to do next or how they would find its owner.

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

Then one employee had the idea to post a photo on Facebook. Within 30 minutes, Barbee came to pick up and claim her cat after seeing it on social media.

"We could just not believe it," Arroyo said. "It was pretty funny."