Cat rescued from security fence at prison

The RSPCA rescued a cat from a 25ft prison fence covered in razor wire and returned him to his owner just in time for Christmas.

The black and white cat was spotted by staff and inmates at HM Prison Haverigg in Millom, Cumbria on Saturday 21 December.

The intrepid cat, called Padfoot, had somehow got himself stuck on top of a 25ft fence with two rolls of razor wire along the top and was about 50m inside the prison perimeter.

RSPCA Inspector Martyn Fletcher, who rescued the ‘cat bugler’, said: “This was one great escape! I have no idea how he managed to get so far inside the prison and so high up the fence, maybe he considered himself a bit of a feline felon. He was about 50m inside so not just on the perimeter.

“He was able to move precariously on the top of the fence, but this meant walking on razor wire. He nearly fell three times but managed to grasp the wire and pull himself to safety. The poor cat was very scared and reluctant to be rescued. It took a lot of patience, some ladders and a reach and rescue pole to be able to bring him to safety.”

The poor cat was immediately taken to the vets as he had cuts to his paws from the razor wire which thankfully turned out to be minor injuries.

Padfoot was then placed in a private boarding cattery overnight. As he was not microchipped, animal rescuer Martyn made enquiries to try to find the owner but there was no luck.

Martyn added: “He’s such a lovely cat, I didn’t want to put him into a cattery over Christmas and New Year so I took him home with me where he could chill out for the festivities but luckily the owners made contact the next day after hearing what had happened from their neighbours.”

Padfoot had been missing from home for about four days, but finally he was reunited with his owners on Christmas Eve just in time for the festivities.

The cat’s owner Angela Driver Swales said: “He’d been missing for about four or five days, but he’s done this before. He will go but always comes back, so it wasn’t until one of our neighbours told us about the rescue that we thought it might be Padfoot.”

The eight-month old cat came to love with Angela at their tables along with his brother, Severus, also named after another Harry Potter character and their existing cat, Lucifer.

Angela added: “He’s now become a bit famous, there have been lots of jokes about him breaking into the prison, as you can imagine.”

Angela explained that they were pleased to have him home in one piece just in time for Christmas and will be microchipping the mischievous cat in case he decides to take another adventure.