RSCPA Cat Rescue
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:36 pm
Thought I'd share this little story with you all as it seems that a lot of people have bad experiences with the RSPCA and it would be nice to share a good one!
About two days I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus to work when I noticed something funny hanging on a fence post by a horse paddock down the hill from where the bus stops, at first I thought someone had left their jacket there with the arms hanging down the fence but when I checked it out close up I realised it was a cat, it was a large black and white male, his head and neck were fully inserted into the post of the fence which was metal and completely hollow. The fence was about three inches wide and he had obviously slipped and lost his footing as his legs were hanging down either side with his paws twitching, at first I thought he might be spasming from a neck injury but found out he was just shaking, partly out of fear and from cold, he was very dirty and shivering, this was about 7am so no idea how long he had been there. He'd ripped some of his claws out trying to scrabble out and the rest were cracked and bleeding and the blood was dry so he was probably there a while, not many people use the footpath down there in the early morning. I could hear a reasonably strong meow so knew he still had a bit of energy, a few minutes after I got there and had tried to free him unsuccessfully he started trying to get loose again and lost his grip on the fence completely, fortunately I had my arms around him at the time so caught him, if I hadn't his neck would have snapped. I thought I would try ringing the RSPCA, I have had bad experiences with them before but thought it would be worth a try, the local branch was closed so I could only get through to one of the main branches which happened to be Sheffield - about three hours drive away! The lady on the phone could not have been nicer or more helpful, she said she would get an off duty inspector out ASAP, she kept calling me every five minutes or so to check on the cat. It took about 40 minutes for the inspector to get to me as I was well hidden off the sight of the road, by this point I was really getting distressed as I could hear the cat gasping for breath, their was no air holes and although I kept trying to move him to get air into him he was very fluffy and the fluff was sticking to his face. The RSPCA inspector was wonderful, she got him out in about ten seconds flat! I felt so awful because I had really tried to free him but he was so tightly wedged and I was scared of causing a neck or face injury. She was so lovely, even though I got her out of bed. She gave him a good check over and some food because he was so hungry, I had a lovely cuddle with him as well, after having held him for 45 minutes I wanted to meet him properly. She could have been annoyed that she had to come out even though he was free so quickly but she said I did the right thing and was genuinely so kind and concerned about this cat. Just wanted to share that story as it had a great happy ending!
About two days I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus to work when I noticed something funny hanging on a fence post by a horse paddock down the hill from where the bus stops, at first I thought someone had left their jacket there with the arms hanging down the fence but when I checked it out close up I realised it was a cat, it was a large black and white male, his head and neck were fully inserted into the post of the fence which was metal and completely hollow. The fence was about three inches wide and he had obviously slipped and lost his footing as his legs were hanging down either side with his paws twitching, at first I thought he might be spasming from a neck injury but found out he was just shaking, partly out of fear and from cold, he was very dirty and shivering, this was about 7am so no idea how long he had been there. He'd ripped some of his claws out trying to scrabble out and the rest were cracked and bleeding and the blood was dry so he was probably there a while, not many people use the footpath down there in the early morning. I could hear a reasonably strong meow so knew he still had a bit of energy, a few minutes after I got there and had tried to free him unsuccessfully he started trying to get loose again and lost his grip on the fence completely, fortunately I had my arms around him at the time so caught him, if I hadn't his neck would have snapped. I thought I would try ringing the RSPCA, I have had bad experiences with them before but thought it would be worth a try, the local branch was closed so I could only get through to one of the main branches which happened to be Sheffield - about three hours drive away! The lady on the phone could not have been nicer or more helpful, she said she would get an off duty inspector out ASAP, she kept calling me every five minutes or so to check on the cat. It took about 40 minutes for the inspector to get to me as I was well hidden off the sight of the road, by this point I was really getting distressed as I could hear the cat gasping for breath, their was no air holes and although I kept trying to move him to get air into him he was very fluffy and the fluff was sticking to his face. The RSPCA inspector was wonderful, she got him out in about ten seconds flat! I felt so awful because I had really tried to free him but he was so tightly wedged and I was scared of causing a neck or face injury. She was so lovely, even though I got her out of bed. She gave him a good check over and some food because he was so hungry, I had a lovely cuddle with him as well, after having held him for 45 minutes I wanted to meet him properly. She could have been annoyed that she had to come out even though he was free so quickly but she said I did the right thing and was genuinely so kind and concerned about this cat. Just wanted to share that story as it had a great happy ending!
