A kitten who became trapped inside a chimney at a house in Bradford was reunited with her owners after a rescue by the RSPCA and a specialist fire crew.
The animal charity was called out after four-month old Murphy was spotted on the 25-foot-high roof of the property at Giles Street in Wibsey after going missing for more than two days.
RSPCA animal rescue officer (ARO) Aleesha Haddlesey called out officers from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to support her, but the initial attempts to bring the cat down to the ground were frustrated when the nervous feline jumped down a nearby chimney.
A tactical team who deal with animal rescues, based at Cleckheaton Fire Station, was called out and firefighters drilled a hole in the wall leading into the chimney breast so they could locate the cat.
“Murphy went up onto the roof through a small hole in the loft space and there was just no way she could be reached and she wasn’t going to come back down through that space,” recalled ARO Aleesha.
“We couldn’t access the roof from inside the property as the loft was too small. We also tried contacting the landlord of the neighbouring property to open a skylight on the roof, from which we called out to her, but that was to no avail.
“She panicked and ran down the chimney and when the fire officers tried to reach her using a grasper plus a reach and rescue pole, they found she had dropped too far down to get to.
“Fortunately, the fire and rescue service has a specialist team who were able to use their expertise to access the chimney.
“They cut a hole big enough to reach in and then one of the officers managed to grab the cat and pull her out.”
Murphy, who had been missing since Saturday, August 5, was happily reunited with his owners unscathed apart from being covered in grime from her rooftop adventures.
The RSPCA works closely with the emergency services and is incredibly grateful for any help it receives. The charity can request the help of the fire and rescue service and some crews use animal rescues for training, but emergencies involving people always take priority.
