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Cat stuck atop telephone pole finally rescued near Crossfield

After several hours, a cat that somehow got stuck on top of a power line between Crossfield and Madden was rescued on May 5, following numerous calls from the community.
CatRescueWeb
After a social media post showed a cat stuck at the top of a powerline near Crossfield, Fortis Alberta technicians were called to safely rescue the cat from harm. Photo submitted/For Rocky View Weekly

After several hours, a cat that somehow got stuck on top of a power line between Crossfield and Madden was rescued on May 5, following numerous calls from the community.

Cheryl Shea, a Crossfield resident and rural mail carrier for Canada Post, said she was doing her route near Range Road 21 and Township Road 285 when she heard “cries of distress” from what sounded like a cat. After looking around, she noticed the sound was coming from a cat perched at the top of a nearby power line.

“I walked around and couldn’t find it anywhere,” she said. “I just happened to look up, and there it was.”

Shea said she figured the cat may have been injured or in distress, given how vocal it was. She posted photos of the cat to Facebook in order to let other people know about the situation, and also called Crossfield's fire department to see if the cat could be rescued.

Crossfield Fire Chief Ben Niven confirmed the department received several calls about the cat on May 5, but because the power line is technically in Rocky View County, said the calls were forwarded to Rocky View County Fire Services’ Madden-based department.

While the Crossfield Fire Department didn’t respond to this particular call, Niven said the department does respond to reports of stranded cats roughly six to 12 times a year.

“Typically, in those situations, they usually rectify themselves,” he said. “[Cats] climb up and usually get down pretty quick.”

However, over the course of several hours, the cat still did not come down.

After Shea posted the tabby’s plight to social media, Crossfield residents also reached out to Fortis Alberta, which ended up sending a power line technician to retrieve the cat from the power line.

Tanya Croft, a marketing advisor in corporate communications with Fortis Alberta, said the technician left food at the bottom to entice the cat to come down by itself. As that strategy was unsuccessful, she said the technician ultimately climbed up the pole to retrieve the terrified tabby.

“The cat did come down and ran happily away,” she said, adding the bizarre situation happens more often than people would expect.

“We would prefer to deal with these calls ourselves for safety reasons,” she said.

According to Croft, in these situations, sometimes the technicians will wait a day to see if a cat will come down by themselves.

“It is safer for them to get down by themselves, because sometimes the cats get spooked by our workers, which then becomes unsafe for both the cat and the technician,” she said. “Especially when they are dealing with an energized pole.”

Croft said when these events happen, the best course of action is to call the Fortis Alberta customer care line, 310-WIRE.

Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @Jay_Strickz

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