In Prince Albert, Canada, a committed Public Works- Water and Sewer Officer made a valiant rescue on August 25. The man rescued an eight-week-old kitten caught in a drain using a safety belt before releasing her to shelter workers. An example of successful teamwork!
According to Ashlee Bober, manager of the Prince Albert SPCA, the kitten, called Mae, spent many hours meowing as loudly as she could from the bottom of the sewer before being rescued.
The shelter worker explained that it was a chance that the right person heard Mae scream from the top of her lungs. This puss was weeping extremely loudly, her cries amplified by the echo.
The storm drain was seven feet deep and around four feet wide, as reported by CKOM. It has a collect basin and a pipe leading to the storm main at its base.
This depth made it laborious for the kitty to get out alone. Mae didn’t sustain any injury but was frightened.
Someone walking past the drain called the SPCA after hearing the kitten meow. To get some assistance, the animal control officer called the Public Works department.
First, rescuers had to check the pipe for toxic gases; then, they proceeded to the rescue.
Many attempts to free Mae didn’t succeed. Initially, a city worker tried getting Mae to enter a lowered pet carrier but failed.
A rescuer goes down the drain (literally)
The rescuer then spent twenty minutes trying to lure the kitten out of the 10-inch pipe using cat food. Next, the worker donned a harness and descended the sewer.
“The officer ended up going down the drain and collecting the little kitty and brought her up for us. It was quite a treacherous fall for the little girl,” said Ashlee.
Ashley Bober believes the kitten’s diminutive size was the sole reason she was able to enter the sewer. The shelter worker said:
“It was just kind of the perfect time for her to crawl over the manhole and fit down the holes. Her being too much bigger, and she would never have been able to fit down there,”
No one knows how long Mae was trapped in the drain; still, Ashley thinks it wasn’t too long. Judging by the cat’s state, she probably didn’t spend more than 24 hours down there.
Bober warned folks not to follow the sound of animals down sewers by attempting to descend into them on their own. Instead, they should get in touch with the local authorities or the SPCA, where officials are on hand to help lost pets.
Mae will be put up for adoption if her original owners don’t come back for her.