Cat saved after 7-hour rescue
2011-12-06 10:13
Gabisile Ngcobo, The Witness
Pietermaritzburg - A couple battled for seven hours on Monday to rescue their beloved 2-year-old cat, Domino, which was stuck in a storm water drainpipe under their driveway.
James Theil and his girlfriend, Shannon Milojkovic, both 23, said they noticed the cat was missing when they returned to their home in the Pietermaritzburg city centre in the morning.
They grew concerned when they heard a cry and began searching.
“We walked around the garden looking for Domino,” Milojkovic said.
They realised the cry was coming from under the driveway.
“We tried to take the cat out from the pipe’s opening. We first put a cellphone there to trace it by taking a photograph using the flash, but we couldn’t see it. Then we stuck our hands in the pipe, but couldn’t feel it. In our desperation we called for extra help.”
The couple called the SPCA and the inspector advised that they dig into the tar to reach the cat.
'Extremely lucky'
That is when Mark Joubert Plumbing came to the rescue.
Joubert said the cat was four metres down the pipe.
“It was stuck in the bend and it couldn’t turn around.”
He decided to dig up the tar and cut the pipe very carefully because he did not want to hurt the cat. This took two hours.
“It was an eventful afternoon. We could hear the cat’s mew and we knew it was alive,” Joubert told The Witness.
He said it was the first time he has been called to rescue an animal and he is glad the cat was unharmed.
When the cat was freed at 16:00 every part of its body was wet except the head, said Milojkovic.
“At first I thought there was no way we would save her, but we were determined. I feel very good,” said Theil, the owner.
The vet told the couple that the cat is “extremely lucky” to have made it out alive.
“We now have a huge chunk out of the driveway, but it was definitely worth it,” Milojkovic added.