Edinburgh fire crews used specialist equipment to rescue a missing cat from high up inside the roof at World of Football.
Treasured pet Belle had been missing for a month when she turned up above netting in the sports hall at the Corn Exchange on June 21. She was thought to have been trapped there for a day and unable to find her way back down.
The Scottish SPCA were alerted before calling in emergency rescue crews. The fire service attended and teams used specialist machinery to rescue the animal.
Owner Julia Kerr, was thrilled to hear that Belle had been found safe and well. She said: “Belle had been missing for almost four weeks and I was so worried about her. When I got the call to say she had been rescued, I was over the moon.
“When she got home she was a bit anxious and timid but she’s now back to her old self and lazing about on the furniture. I’m so happy to have her back where she belongs and we could not be more thankful to everyone involved.”
Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Aileen Maybury said: “Poor Belle had somehow managed to get stuck behind the netting in the roof of the indoor sports hall and couldn’t navigate her own way down.
“I called the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service who attended and used their specialist machinery to help to rescue Belle.
“She appeared to be incredibly relieved to get down from the roof.
“Belle did have a microchip but the details were out-of-date. Luckily the last person registered had Belle’s owner’s details and we were able to contact them. It turns out that Julia, Belle’s owner, wasn’t aware Belle had a microchip.
“We were shocked to hear that Belle hadn’t been seen since 23 May. She had been missing for just under four weeks. We are not sure where her adventures took her but hopefully she’ll be a bit more careful in the future.
“It is so important to keep your pet’s microchip details up-to-date so that they can easily be returned to you if they do go missing.
“We are so thankful to Susan Campbell from World of Football for contacting us. And we are very grateful to our friends at SFRS for rescuing Belle from the roof.”
Kenny Rogers, SFRS Local Senior Officer for the City of Edinburgh said; “While the statutory responsibility for animal rescue lies with the Scottish SPCA, we will always attend where there is a risk that a member of the public might put themselves in danger by attempting to effect their own rescue.
“As a humanitarian organisation, SFRS crews use their technical training and expertise as well as specialist equipment to rescue animals. I’m pleased our crews were able to play a part in reuniting this cat with its owners.”
