Police, firefighters and the RSPCA rescued the ginger cat from a perilous ledge
Police, fire crews and the RSPCA launched a large rescue mission to save a cat stuck on a 60ft-high ledge at Ramsgate Tunnel.
RSPCA Inspector Clive Hopwood was called to the tunnel, in Kent, on Saturday (23 October) to the stricken ginger puss. He said: “The cat was in a really perilous predicament on a small ledge around 60ft from the ground at the entrance to the tunnel in Marina Esplanade in Ramsgate.
“He was around 10ft down from the top so we believe he fell from the higher ground and got stuck on the ledge.”
Clive called Kent Fire & Rescue Service for support. Four vehicles including a rope rescue unit, heigh vehicle and technical rescue unit were sent to help along with Kent Police.
Kent Fire & Rescue Service said: “Crews were alerted to the cat by the RSPCA – who couldn’t reach the cat due it being 18 metres high on the ledge. KFRS will always respond to rescue an animal where there is a risk to the life of people involved. The height vehicle was sent to the scene along with the fire service Line Rescue team. The team abseiled down the ledge to rescue the cat, which was then handed to the RSPCA.”
Clive added: “The specialist team abseiled down to reach the poor, frightened cat and I went up in the aerial platform with a team so that, once they had hold of him safely, they could pass him to me to get down to safety.
“I checked him and, thankfully, he hadn’t been injured during his ordeal. I scanned him and, although he was microchipped, unfortunately his details weren’t registered so we took him into our care and started looking for his owner.
“We’d like to say a big thank you to the police and the amazing fire crews for helping with this dramatic rescue.”
Thankfully, after just a few hours, the cat’s owner spotted the ‘Found’ poster and got in contact. Two-year-old rescue cat Jinks had been missing from home for more than two weeks and his owner – Kim Abraham, from Ramsgate – was growing increasingly concerned.
“We had a lot of sleepless nights, we were so worried about him,” Kim said. “We’re so relieved to have him back; it’s been fantastic. He’s very sleepy and quite underweight. He’s ravenous so we’re trying to feed him back up again slowly. Goodness knows what he’d been up to all that time!”
Jinks is now home with Kim and her husband, their three rescue dogs and their two other cats, 13-year-old Ronnie and new addition, rescue kitten Fezziwig.
“He’s such a lovely, affectionate cat,” Kim added. “He’s very playful and isn’t frightened of anything so I’m not surprised he ended up getting into trouble! It’s so lovely to have him home. We’re going to take him to the vets to make sure he’s okay and we’re going to have him re-microchipped as we can’t understand why his chip didn’t bring him home to us.”
To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit our website or call our donation line on 0300 123 8181.
