Pet Rescues

There have been a number of dramatic animal rescues in the news this year.

A couple of days ago in Oregon, Moses the camel was rescued from a sinkhole by local firefighters. This story’s happy ending was welcome encouragement for his owners, who are battling unemployment and cancer.

This past spring, a cow spent five days stuck under a street in Utah before being noticed. I talked to the mayor several days after the rescue and learned that the cow was well and grazing peacefully with her calf.

The month before that, Public Works employees in Washington used the storm/sewer robot to herd a trapped cat out of a storm pipe:

Lisa the cat had disappeared the day before, and when her owner called for her, he was answered by meowing from deep underground. City workers responded immediately, and while they were used to rescuing ducklings from storm drains, a cat in a pipe was new.

They put the robotic camera into the pipe and drove it towards her until they could pull her up through a manhole. The video does not have sound, but you can see Lisa meowing, then walking forward as she wonders what the whirring thing with bright lights is (similar to this camera).

When she can go no further thanks to a block her rescuers put in, she is hauled up the opening by a worker who had to hang upside down to grab her. This is why she appears to hover for a moment before disappearing from the screen. No one was mauled and Lisa was safely returned to her owner.

There is one rescue story still playing out though. Mugsy the cat has been living in a Washington marsh near I-90 for nearly three weeks. On August 29th, the RV she, another cat, and her elderly owners were in crashed near Snoqualmie Pass.

Her “dad” died of internal injuries a couple of days later, and her “mom” is still recovering. Former police officer and well-known pet detective Kat Albrecht is actively tracking and trying to catch Mugsy. She provides near-daily updates on her blog.

Her blog also has great information about what to do and not to do when you’re trying to catch an escaped pet.

The latest news is that Mugsy is eating the food that’s been left for her and is holing up in a camoflauged trap. When I asked why traps have not been continuously set for Mugsy, Albrecht explained that Mugsy is trap-savvy and needs to be acclimated to the idea.

They hope to catch Mugsy and reunite her with her “mom” soon, which would mean so much to her given the losses she’s already suffered. I’m sure the other cat would appreciate getting her buddy back as well.

What makes this story especially amazing is that not only has a domestic cat survived a major vehicle accident, but she’s been living in the woods on her own for almost three weeks– and is 17 years old. That’s about 85 in people years!

Hopefully this weekend will bring news that Mugsy is safe and sound. When she gets home, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Discovery channel calls about a new show called “Cat vs. Wild” or “Survivorcat”. Mugsy is one tough tortie!

*************************************************************************************

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. -Jeff Valdez

*************************************************************************************
©2010 H. Hiatt/wildninja.wordpress.com. All articles/posts on this blog are copyrighted original material that may not be reproduced in part or whole in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from H. Hiatt/wildninja.wordpress.com.