A heartwarming community effort in Jurong West to save a trapped cat in a car bumper
Welcome to the Local Heroes series, where we highlight inspiring stories by people in Singapore who are using their skills to do good.
SINGAPORE – Saving a community cat would sometimes be successful only when a whole community comes together to lend a helping hand.
Posting on Sayang Our Singapore’s Community Cats Facebook page, user Marr Marinah shared a heartening community cat rescue incident at Jurong West on 5 September, where a beloved cat happened to be stuck inside a car’s bumper.
“Went to my parents’ house and saw their resident community cat under a car. I thought she was just chilling, so me (sic) and my husband went to say hi, but we realised her hind leg was stuck inside the car’s bumper! So we both tried to free it but couldn’t,” she added.
According to Marinah, the Hyundai car owner knew about the distressed cat and had called both the Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). While waiting for AAS to arrive, the trio had attempted to free the cat but made no progress.
“Another person who just parked his Mercedes came over to help. He brought his carjack along, and we managed to lift the car a bit, and we realised the cat’s hind leg was tangled in a wire,” she wrote in the post.
Just wanted to share how wonderful people in the community came together to help a helpless stray. I hope this story brightens up your day.
Soon after, the SPCA arrived but did not have the tools to free the cat.
Marinah shared that the Mercedes car owner then called his mechanic, “and to the best of his abilities, confirmed that the wire was for the reverse sensor.” Then, diagnosing that the quickest way to free the community cat was to cut the wire, the Mercedes car owner “spoke to his mechanic and told the owner of the car that if he lets us cut the wire, his mechanic will fix everything for free.”
The Hyundai car owner, upon knowing that the wire will affect his reverse sensor and not the brake lights, was gracious enough to allow them to cut the wire to free the struggling cat. Observing that the cat “wasn’t badly harmed, a few scratches and maybe a sprain”, Marinah also shared that the cat “bolted away before SPCA could secure her.” Adding that the cat’s regular feeder “will be looking for the cat later to make sure she’s alright”, Marinah wrote that “from the looks of it, the cat seemed ok.”
Sharing with Yahoo Life SEA that the feeder managed to locate the cat, Marinah also said that new towels were given to the community cat, and the feeder had wiped the cat down. The car owners, who exchanged contacts after the rescue, also realised that they lived in the same block during their interaction. A community rescue, indeed!
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