The owners of a cat who spent more than 12 hours stuck up a chimney on bonfire night were glad to see an RSPCA inspector.
The nervous feline, called Buttons, had just been adopted by a family at Gosforth in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
But within hours of settling into his new home he dashed up into the chimney place on November 5.
He hid on a ledge four feet up above the opening, refusing to move, and when RSPCA inspector Rachael Hurst arrived the cat was terrified by the noise of fireworks going off.
She said: “Buttons is a young rescue cat who the family had only adopted the day before and he was very nervous.
“He’d hopped up onto a shelf in the chimney and was refusing to budge. He’d been up there for 12 hours and hadn’t touched his food which had been put down nearby. Obviously the fireworks weren’t helping and when I managed to pull him out and let go of him he ran back up the chimney.
“The second time I caught him the householder had to block off the chimney. Thankfully, Buttons was unharmed and it didn’t take long to get him out. But it must have been an ordeal for him and while he is a nervous cat anyway by all accounts it does go to show the effects fireworks can have on pets.”
New statistics have shown almost two-thirds of animal owners reported that their pets appeared distressed during firework season. Last year the RSPCA started its first online reporting form for members of the public to document the impact of fireworks on their animals – receiving 11,785 responses showing this is a real problem for animals across the country.
Owners can share their stories of how fireworks have affected their animals here.
As a charity, we rely entirely on donations to keep our rescue teams on the road. We’re calling on animal lovers to help us make sure animals don’t pay the price of the cost of living crisis this Christmas.
To Join the Winter Rescue and help our rescuers be there for the animals in need, please visit www.rspca.org.uk/jointherescue.
