Bailing out ‘Nancy’
We all have heard so many sad stories of animal abuse—of stray dogs being stoned; of pets left outside to suffer through the hottest and coldest of days; of dogs and cats left behind to die when their owners move; and of the millions of unwanted pets that are dumped at animal shelters, where they often long to find new families.
Luckily, there are still many people who care enough about animals to go to extreme measures to save the life of an innocent creature. That is what I experienced right at my apartment on the 20th floor some time ago. It was heart-wrenching.
The weather read a pathetic 8 degrees with strong gale of winds hitting my large bay window in the living and I was walking sipping my morning coffee from one end of the apartment to another just to keep myself warm. Mr. Sun was still not out yet.
Meanwhile at the apartment right below mine, Nancy the cat, spent her days with her owner. Most of the time, she enjoyed lounging around the dining area with her fellow cats—but that day, she got a little too curious, crawled through the window which was kept open by the owner for reasons only he understood, jumped up the loft, and she came on to my window area which was one floor up where she just sat down still as there was no further way.
I didn’t know of all this until she began to mew for help. By that point, it looked as if she’d been stuck in the same position for at least a couple of hours. I could feel the cold in my bones staying inside the apartment. I wonder how she managed to bear that chill outside.
Had I opened my window she would have fallen 20 floors down and I would never be able to forgive myself for that. I called for help not knowing what to do.
Minutes later, my door bell rang. There were 20 people. I expected just a person or at the most two. Firefighters, animal rescue groups, police officers, and even a pet psychic all came to my place to coax the cat out of that thin wall, but she refused to budge. Strong winds and cold weather made it even more difficult for the rescuers.
Finally, two hours later, the cat after its conversation with the pet psychic decided it is safe to jump into the net that was laid below her by the volunteers and jumped in fear to safety. When her rescuer from SPCA got her out, “another hour in here, she would have frozen,” he said.
Fortunately, Nancy survived the ordeal—though she probably hasn’t felt like venturing too far outside her home since then.
And I was impressed with the way these people conducted. They came within no time. They were equipped. The co-ordination between the Police, Animal Rescue Groups, Fire Fighters, Pet Psychic was outstanding. And everyone had one common goal-that was to bail Nancy out. It was pleasure to watch them work and yes, certainly there are people who care for these beautiful creatures.
Posted by: Anil Kumar
Tags: Anil Kumar, caring for animals, DH blogs, pets, Readers blog, rescue operations