A resident of Snatts Lane Uckfield contacted East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) after finding faeces in a storage room on the first floor of their house. After looking online they thought the faeces belonged to a fox, but they were baffled by how any animal could have got in or what the animal was. Senior Rescuers Trevor Weeks and Chris Riddington attended on site thinking they were going to end up looking round, surveying and giving advice. After seeing the photo of the faeces and noticing poisoned bait placed for rodents the situation suddenly turned a lot more serious.
“We knew that whatever animal was present and produced the faces must still be there and that it was potentially suffering from poisoning. Chris started videoing under the sloping roof and floorboards and noticed two eyes staring back in the dark” said Trevor Weeks.
“This is not what we expected at all” explained Chris Riddington, “we now knew we could not just place a trap, and that as this cat was poisoned we had to get it out as quickly as possible in order to save its life.”
The carpet was removed and tools used to lift one of the floorboard, but more space was needed. A saw was used to cut three more floorboards making a bigger space to get equipment under the floorboards to reach the cat.
“It was a difficult location and space was in short supply. We tried to encourage the cat to come to us but the poor frightened creature just wouldn’t move. Time was not on our site and we knew we had to be as quick as possible. It took us about 90 minutes in total to find and get to the cat” said Chris.
Working in a hot and dusty environment Trevor and Chris worked as a team to get the cat. “Chris did most of the hard work and an amazing job and eventually managed to get a net over the cat and slowing and carefully pull the cat towards him” said Trevor.
“Once close I was able to reach under the floorboards and scruff the cat and lift out of the hole to freedom. Clearly dehydrated and frightened we moved the cat to a brighter and more airy area and started to stroke him” said Chris.
Rescuers quickly packed equipment away and rushed the cat to Henley House Vets in Uckfield where waiting staff were on hand to check over the cat and assess its condition and start emergency treatment for poisoning.
“This cat is so adorable. Luckily the cat is microchipped and the vets are now trying to contact the owner. We really hope the poor cat is Ok and the owners are pleased to have this lovely cat back home again” said Trevor.
UPDATE (9pm 30th May 2017 )
The cat is called Ringo and the owner found. He is staying overnight at Henley House Vets and very worried owners will be visiting him and seeing how he is in the morning.
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USE OF VIDEO: This video can be used by local media, TV, Radio and Newspaper to East Sussex England free of charge. For all other use please contact East Sussex WRAS on 01825-873003.
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