Cat rescued after four days on 60-foot tall high voltage power pole

A cat stuck for four days up a high voltage power pole in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada, has finally been saved. The orange-and-white tabby named "Miss Kitty" climbed up the pole on Monday, and its owner and other town residents spent the week trying to coax it down.





Mattresses had been placed around the bottom of the pole in case she fell. Bill Backhall said it was "a desperate situation," with vultures and a raven flying nearby. He thought his cat had been scared and chased up the pole by another cat in his rural neighbourhood.


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Blackhall had been trying since Monday to convince BC Hydro to rescue his cat, (video), but the utility company said it would be a tricky job. According to BC Hydro, specialised equipment was needed on site because the lines near the cat were carrying 138,000 volts of electricity. Finally on Thursday, BC Hydro sent a crew from Salmon Arm, nearly 300 kilometres away, to make the rescue.





As for why the crew came from so far away, BC Hydro says it doesn't have customers in the area. Dag Sharman, a spokesman for BC Hydro, said it's not uncommon that animals climb up power poles, but 99 percent of the time they come down on their own and usually it's not one of these tall high-voltage transmission poles. Blackhall had said Miss Kitty will now become an indoor cat.