Canoes, surfboards, wetsuits and all kinds of rescue equipment. The Animal Ambulance in Middelburg, together with the fire brigade and a number of local residents, pulled out all the stops to free cat Lucy. The creature had put itself in an impossible position by crawling under a bridge in the center of the Zeeland capital.
It started with a report that a cat was heard “somewhere”, reports Zeeland broadcaster. When the volunteers from Dierenwelzijn Walcheren took a look at the Vlissingsebinnenbrug on Thursday, they did indeed hear meowing. However, there was no trace of the animal itself.
It was the fire brigade who managed to locate the cat: she turned out to be sitting under a pillar of the bridge, on a ledge. Sometimes she fell off there, only to climb back on.
Put down some food
The fire brigade was unable to free the cat. There was too little space between the pillars. A few local residents with a canoe were also unable to catch the animal.
“After several attempts, we had to stop the capture action in consultation with the police and the fire brigade”, Animal Welfare Walcheren writes. Facebook. “After putting some food with the cat, we went home to think about how to fix this.”
After a night’s sleep, an alternative rescue attempt was devised. The volunteers decided to enter the water with a surfboard. At first they didn’t hear the cat anymore, but Lucy was still in her place. She was thin, hypothermic and dazed. She stopped meowing and meekly allowed herself to be released from her plight.
Very proud of volunteers
After reading the chip it turned out that the cat lived around the corner and had been missing for three weeks. How and when she hit the water is unclear.
Animal welfare Walcheren says he is ‘very proud’ of the volunteers who did not give up on getting Lucy back to her owner.
–
