CASE OF THE CAT STRANDED ON A TREE #SPFPride On 24 November last year, Woodlands East Neighbourhood Police Centre officers Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Benjamin Cheah and his partner Corporal (Cpl) Mohammad Faidzul Bin Muslim responded to a call for assistance at Woodlands Avenue 9. A cat had been stuck on a six-storey high tree without food for the past two days. The cat had clung on to the highest point of the pine tree and the thin branches broke when anyone tried to climb up to reach it. The cat-owners had exhausted all other avenues of help: animal rescue groups and other agencies could not help, and all other attempts to save it had failed. Exposed in the hot afternoon sun, it was clear that the cat was growing weaker and would not survive if it stayed there. As the distressed cat-owners watched helplessly, the officers knew they had to assist. “We couldn’t bring ourselves to simply walk away from the situation as both my partner and I are animal lovers,” recounted SSgt Cheah. After a quick discussion with the neighbours who had gathered to help, a rescue plan was devised. SSgt Cheah borrowed a long gardening hose and worked with one of the cat-owners, Asyraf, to tie the hose to the trunk of the tree at the highest point he could climb up to. Next, the two officers and five other neighbours began tugging at the other end of the hose causing the top of the tree to start swaying – the aim was to encourage the cat to let loose its grip. About ten other residents were tasked with spreading out bed sheets and curtains to catch the cat as it fell. After about 20 minutes of relentless tree tugging with the cat still firmly grasping on, SSgt Cheah and Cpl Faidzul came up with another idea. They asked a resident on the sixth floor to spray water out of his bedroom window at the cat. The effect of water on the cat was immediate – surprised, it let go and fell from the tree. Landing safely and unhurt, the cat was reunited with its owners. Cat-owners Madam Orchid, Nadia, Asyraf, Nurin and Nazreen, touched by the help rendered by the two Police officers, wrote in to give their compliments: “Your two officers did what others couldn’t. They went beyond their call of duty to help us save our cat and wouldn’t stop until our cat got down from the tree. They do their job not only upholding the law and maintaining the peace, they also showed extraordinary compassion to living creatures and brought us happiness.”
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:50:01 +0000