A young cat was rescued by the RSPCA and West Yorkshire firefighters after turning into precariously caught on the ledge of a viaduct in Huddersfield city centre.
Concerned members of the general public contacted the animal welfare charity after the cat was seen perched close to the highest of the bridge on Lower Viaduct Street.
RSPCA animal rescue officer Emmeline Myall attended the scene on Tuesday March 5 however her ladder wasn’t lengthy sufficient to achieve the cat – who was about 45ft (13.7 metres) up – and a name to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was made.
Emmeline and a firefighter went up in a cherry picker to rescue him and after slightly little bit of coaxing he was caught and introduced all the way down to security in a basket.
It was unsafe to launch the cat on the location and there was no proprietor on the scene, so he was taken to the charity’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital in Salford the place he was checked over and given flea and worming therapy. He is now within the care of the RSPCA’s Rochdale & District Branch and will likely be rehomed from their centre sooner or later if no proprietor comes ahead.
Lost and located posters have been put up on the location urging the proprietor to get in contact.
Emmeline stated: “As we went up within the cherry picker to try to rescue him a few trains went previous at pace. It will need to have been a terrifying expertise and he was very fortunate to flee severe harm.
“Looking on the location, he will need to have walked alongside the tracks for a while earlier than stopping the place he did. I don’t suppose I’ve ever rescued a cat from such a precarious scenario earlier than.
“I obtained him into my basket and he was understandably timid and scared at first, however he quickly settled down as soon as he was quieter behind my van. He was in good well being however not microchipped which is such a disgrace as I think he could also be owned and somebody may very well be lacking him.
“The fire service were amazing, we are always so grateful for their help in situations like this, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to the crew for the care and compassion they showed.”
Steven O’ Keefe, Watch Commander on Blue Watch, stated: “We used the aerial equipment and despatched that up with firefighter Sam Baxter and an RSPCA officer.
“Once we got alongside the cat we persuaded him to come closer and then got him into a cat box. It’s one of the more unusual cat rescues I’ve attended but we’re happy it all ended well.”
From June 10 2024 it will likely be a authorized requirement to microchip pet cats in England after they attain 20 weeks of age. Owners will even be required to maintain their contact particulars up-to-date on a pet microchipping database.
The RSPCA believes microchipping is probably the most dependable means of guaranteeing homeowners are reunited with misplaced, injured or stolen pets, irrespective of the place they’re discovered or how lengthy they’ve been lacking.
Owners discovered to not have microchipped their cat could have 21 days to get one implanted or might face a wonderful of as much as £500.
