Snared moggy back home after tree rescue

Little Poppie McCabe has every reason to cuddle her pet cat after what he has been through.The Doncaster youngster’s moggy, called Shadow, turned out to be anything but a lucky black cat after a stressful series of events left him injured and trapped up a tree.

But five-year-old Poppie is delighted after Shadow’s luck turned when the RSPCA arrived to rescue him and return him safely home.

Shadow’s lucky escape came after he found himself stuck 9ft up a tree – and trapped in a snare.

Experts at the animal charity believe he had scrambled up the pear tree in Auckley, Doncaster, with the snare clamped around him. It had become entangled leaving him hanging there.

Fortunately, the owners of the property on Sycamore Drive came home from work and heard him crying.

Jean Wilkins, who found him, said: “It was the strangest sight. I heard what I thought was a cat and followed the sound to the pear tree. The poor thing was stuck fast and when my husband tried to get him down he just lashed out. That’s when we rang the RSPCA for help.”

RSPCA inspector Carol Neale arrived at the scene just after 6pm.

She said: “This cat has surely used up more than one of his nine lives. Getting caught in the snare could have proved fatal on its own – but then to end up stuck in the tree too.

“Had the owners of the property not heard him and acted when they did he might have died up there.”

The snare was what is called a ‘free-running’ snare – and is legal if used correctly. But the RSPCA says the snares should never be able to trap anything other than their target species.

“Snares can cause long and painful deaths and terrible injuries to animals caught in them. Cats often fall victim to them,” said Insp Neale.

“Anyone using a snare must ensure they do so legally.

“Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal in this way could see them brought before the courts.”

The trap had cut off the circulation to Shadow’s rear end but, once he was free of it, the movement started to come back and he has made a full recovery. Shadow was reunited with his owner after another neighbour recognised him.

Poppie’s mum Becky Govan, of nearby Hazel Avenue, said: “We couldn’t believe it when we were told what had happened. Shadow had been missing for three days and we’d started to fear the worst. Our other cat Jack has been missing for five months so we were becoming very anxious.

“We’re so grateful to the people who found him and the inspector who rescued him.”