Charleroi resident helps rescue cat trapped after two-story fall
Courtesy of Washington Area Humane Society
This cat, now healthy, narrowly escaped death when it was rescued Wednesday night after being stuck more than 24 hours on a roof between two row buildings in Charleroi.
Courtesy of Washington Area Humane Society
A cat was trapped Tuesday and Wednesday between these two row buildings on McKean Avenue in Charleroi. It was rescued Wednesday night.
A homeless cat is lucky to have nine lives after it was rescued from a tight spot in Charleroi last Wednesday.
Amanda “Cali” Pasquale, had returned to her former apartment in the 500 block of McKean Avenue to remove some of her things Dec. 1, when she heard a cat outside.
“I walked up and down, calling her,” Pasquale said. “She kept answering, but I couldn’t find her.”
Pasquale, who has two dogs and three cats of her own, said she knew this cat was in trouble by the sounds it was making.
“It was that desperate meow that cats do,” Pasquale said. “I’ve never been in animal rescue, but I would never just leave an animal ever. I was really worried, but she stopped answering me, so I thought maybe she got into the building somehow and out of the wind.”
It was cold and snowy Tuesday night – not a great evening for a cat to be stuck outside. Pasquale tried local police, the fire department and animal control, but no one could help because they couldn’t find the cat. She suspected it was trapped in a wall or in a space on the roof.
On the afternoon of Dec. 2, Pasquale returned to the building, a few down from her former apartment, and could still hear the cat. She called the Washington Area Humane Society to see if they could help.
Humane Society Officer, Maranda Coombs, and her friend Jeff Riternoir, of J&J Remodeling Inc., showed up to help.
“This situation didn’t qualify as an abuse, abandonment, or neglect case, but we felt we could at least try to assist since it was a dire situation,” Kelly Proudfit, executive director of the Humane Society, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. “The temperatures would drop shortly and the cat would not make it through the night stuck.”
The building owners gave Coombs permission to access the building in order to try to rescue the cat, Coombs said. The building was mostly vacant and rundown, Coombs said.
“As a humane officer, you have to try to get creative sometimes for how you go about things,” Coombs said.
Riternoir used a ladder to get onto the “unstable” roof to investigate, Proudfit said. He could see the cat, which had fallen two stories into a 4-foot-wide space between the row-style buildings.
“It would have frozen to death in there,” Proudfit said. “It wasn’t even meowing loudly anymore.”
Pasquale said she suspects the cat chased a mouse or rat up to the roof somehow.
“I have no idea how she got up there,” she said. “The only way in was to drop down from the roof. I think she fell two stories. She doesn’t seem to be injured at all.”
Pasquale said they decided to try to access the level that cat was on from inside the second floor of the building, but the floor wasn’t stable.
“Jeff almost fell through the floor,” Pasquale said. “The whole place was falling apart.”
Coombs said she and Riternoir pushed out a piece of plywood covering a window in a first-floor room, which was level with where the cat was stuck.
“He went out and was able to get the cat,” Coombs said. “It immediately started purring and curling up in Cali’s arms. It was pretty cold and shaking.”
Coombs said the adult cat had thick fur, which was likely how it survived more than 24 hours in the cold. She said that if it were a kitten, it probably wouldn’t have survived.
“Because it was a good three stories down, it didn’t leave a lot of room for snow or wind to get down there,” Coombs said. “We were lucky to find it.”
Pasquale and Coombs then wrapped the cat in a blanket, before they all quickly left the building. Pasquale said she is thankful Coombs and Riternoir helped her rescue the cat, saying she would not have been able to do it on her own.
“I almost cried when we finally got her out of the building,” Pasquale said. “We kind of just stood there and checked her out and laughed about it.”
Pasquale said the cat is a little skinny but seems healthy, and has been eating and drinking all Thursday. Pasquale planned to take the cat to Ninth Life Rescue Center in Greensburg, where it will be put up for adoption.
Proudfit said while this story had a positive outcome, it draws attention to a growing problem – a cat population that is “out of control.”
“Nobody has responsibility for cats in this county, especially homeless cats,” she said. “It still is a life, and I hate to think of it freezing to death. It’s so sad because cats are such sweet, loving creatures.”
Coombs said anyone with concerns about the welfare of animals can call their local Humane Society.