Cat found alive aboard sunken boat pulled from Arizona lake

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. -- A trapped, hungry, wet and scared cat is now safe after it was found tucked away in a boat that had sank to the bottom of Lake Havasu in Arizona.

Today's News-Herald reports the brown-and-black American shorthair breed was found when the boat was brought ashore by Dive Time Recovery owner John Zucalla.

It's unclear who the cat belongs to, if anyone, and Western Arizona Humane Society workers named the cat River.

Zucalla says River had been in the water for at least an hour and was alive, though frightened, when she was spotted in a front storage compartment.

He said the cat must have stowed away sometime before boat owner Genaro Rudaldava left Orange County, California.

Rudaldava said River wasn't his cat. If owners don't step forward this week, River will be eligible for adoption.