A STOWAWAY cat called Dizzy has landed on his feet after being shipped

across the Atlantic in a container full of bourbon barrels to a whisky

bond in Keith, Banffshire.

Dizzy's ordeal began when he went to sleep among the empty barrels at

a yard in Louisville, Kentucky. The casks were part of a regular

consignment imported for maturing some types of whisky.

The young black and white cat went unnoticed as the barrels were

sealed in a container and shipped across to the whisky bond.

The cat was trapped soon afterwards and faced being destroyed but

officials at whisky firm Chivas Brothers offered to pay to have him

quarantined for six months. They then plan to give him a job as a mouser

at their whisky bond.

''It seemed the only decent thing to do after all he has been

through,'' said director of northern operations John Watson.

''He was struggling to get to his feet -- not just through hunger but

because he would also have been absolutely plastered from the bourbon

fumes.''

Grampian police who were called in to investigate the illegal entry

said the cat would normally have been destroyed.

''But after discussions, Chivas Brothers decided to spare him and pay

for the six months quarantine bills,'' said a force spokesman.