Spalding area family thank firefighters for rescuing cat from an electricity pole
A cat nearly lost one of its nine lives after being rescued from a live electricity box over the weekend.
Gary and Rachel Clucas were shocked to find their cat Buttons on top of an transformer box attached to an electricity pole near their Whaplode home after he went missing two days earlier.
Firefighters, the RSPCA and Western Power Distribution (WPD) were called out to Hockney Hole Lane on Sunday morning to rescue the cat, who escaped without injury.
Gary said: “All of the people who came out were amazing and so were our neighbours too.We are so happy to have him back – we were told that if he had moved about two feet to his right he would’ve been killed. People might say that he’s just a cat, but he’s more than that – he’s a big part of our family.”
Buttons did not return home on Friday night and despite extensive searches of the area, the family could not find him.
Gary said: “It was about 1am on Sunday when my son Sam heard faint meowing outside. It was pitch black but we followed the meowing and started to look in the dyke but he wasn’t there. Then we looked up and he was on top of the box up an electricity pole. I was going to go up on my ladder and try to get him until I saw the sign which said ‘danger of death’.”
The family called the RSPCA as soon as phone lines opened and it was arranged that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue would attend.
Gary said: “It got more dramatic as it went on – there was the RSPCA then a fire engine. Firefighters who assessed the situation felt because live cables were involved they couldn’t go up which meant they needed to call WPD.”
However, the rescue posed a problem for one of the WPD linesmen.
Ali Walji, who is allergic to cats, met fellow linesman Tom Rickett at the site and the pair were also joined by two technicians who helped to make the system safe before the rescue could be carried out.
Tom, who loves cats, said: “Buttons must have been quite comfortable because he was asleep when I got up there. I managed to get him under my arm and bring him down safely to the ground.
“He was very lucky as he could quite easily have been electrocuted while he was up there.”
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“It was my first cat rescue but I was more than happy to do it. I have a cat at home and Ali is allergic to them so there was only really one person who was going up!”
The rescue took about 40 minutes and staff observed social distancing guidelines.
