PUTNAM – Cat stuck in a tree? That’s amateur-hour stuff compared to a Monday night kitten rescue from a Putnam drainage pipe that required a combination of out-of-the box thinking, quick hands - and tuna fish.
Members of the Putnam Fire Department were called to the Walgreens parking lot in the Riverfront Commons plaza shortly after 7 p.m. for a report of a young feline trapped in a 10-inch corrugated pipe running between two catch basins, Chief Bob Campbell said.
"It was about 150-200 feet long with one end consisting of a sinkhole floor we knew flowed in the opposite direction," he said. "There was a bend down here, so we couldn’t see the cat at first."
Campbell said his team, who were joined by Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments animal rescue workers, first tried coaxing the kitten out with tuna fish, bought at a nearby store, but the animal initially declined the bait.
A 1-inch forestry hose was next deployed and sent a stream of water into the pipe with the hopes the animal would pop out the other end, where firefighters waited with a net.
After that tactic failed, Campbell lowered himself into a man-hole opening with the hose as another firefighter was stationed at the other basin armed with a car-cleaning brush topped with tuna.
"The kitten was so exhausted he latched onto the brush," Campbell said. "But that wasn’t the end of it. Oh no."
The kitten, bedraggled, wet and terrified, rocketed off toward a nearby hardware store before slamming into a window.
"He then headed up into a vehicle wheel-well, but when we opened the hood, he took off into grassy area and tried to bury himself there," Campbell said. "We finally caught him jumping up as we brought over a carrier."
The kitten, estimated to be around 2 months old and named "Smokey" at the rescue scene, was taken to the NECCOG animal shelter in Dayville after the 90-minute capture, said Jenn Huchins, animal control program coordinator.
"He’s good – scared, but eating and drinking," she said on Tuesday. "We think he’s feral, but we’ll advertise to make sure no one owns him before putting him up for adoption."
Campbell said the cliché of firefighters being dispatched to rescue treed cats is largely a fantasy.
"They get tired and come down on their own," he said. "But we can’t leave a cat underground. Maybe we’ll start keeping tuna on the trucks from now on."
The Link LonkJuly 14, 2020 at 11:53PM
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Putnam firefighters deploy tuna and hose to rescue trapped kitty - Norwich Bulletin
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