TODAY
Online Only - SPCA officer was dedicated and professional
06:00 PM Sep 02, 2009
Letter from Teo Peck Hwee
I would like to thank the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) for a rescue operation last Thursday night.
While strolling with my dog in the Upper Boon Keng area at about 7pm, I heard a "meow" - a cat was trapped inside a drain that was at least 2m high.
I tried to pull up the drain bar by myself but it was too heavy. Returning an hour later after my dinner, I found that the cat was still there.
I immediately called SPCA and an officer arrived in about 45 minutes after he had completed another call.
In vain, he tried to pull up the drain bar. He decided to call our area property officer for help in bringing along a crow bar. We waited quite a while for the area property officer, who never showed up and whose handphone was switched off after a while.
The SPCA officer then decided to try his luck at a nearby construction site, and managed to borrow a crowbar from there. My husband came along to assist and the two men worked together.
Within minutes, the cat was rescued. It was wet, dirty and hungry, but it was free. It was also fortunate that it wasn't raining as the cat would have been swept away.
What impressed me is the SPCA officer's professionalism and dedication. Due to the number of calls he had that night, he had not even taken his dinner even though it was well over 9pm.
Most importantly, I came to change my mindset that not all animals are taken away by the SPCA and put to sleep. Because it did not need medical attention, the rescued cat was released instantly.
