MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Russian Railways will change its rules in order to bar attendants from removing pets from long-distance trains, the company said in a statement.

Earlier, a cat named Twix was found dead after being thrown off a train by an attendant.

"In order to prevent such incidents in the future, <...> attendants will be barred from removing pets from trains. In such cases, they will need to hand them over to personnel at railway stations who will contact animal protection organizations," Russian Railways said, adding that the company was very sorry about the cat’s death.

Twix’s owner Edgar Gaifullin said that the cat had been traveling with an escort from the city of Yekaterinburg to the Leningrad Region where his family lives. A special ticket had been purchased for the cat. At some point, Twix escaped from his cage while his escort was asleep, and the train attendant let him out when the train stopped at a station. According to the local transport police, the attendant thought he was a stray cat because none of the passengers had confessed to being his owner.