Sheet Tied in Knots to Create a Ladder
An officer used a bedsheet this week to save a kitten trapped in a chimney. Riverside County Animal Services officer Chris Peck responded on Tuesday (Nov. 16) to a home in Jurupa
Valley with a kitten trapped in a chimney.
Somehow the kitten climbed atop the roof, then the chimney, then took a plunge. The fireplace had long ago been sealed in a redesign – but the homeowner knew a kitten was behind the ceramic design because she and her daughter could hear the meows.
Officer Peck did not have a device long enough to reach the kitten, known by the family as Rudy, a 6- month-old black, domestic-short-haired feline.
Officer Peck noticed the family had a box of clothes outside the Rathke Drive property. He asked if he might be able to use some sweaters and pants to create a makeshift ladder for the little guy. The family came up with a better solution: a red bedsheet. The officer headed back atop the roof and strung together pieces of the bedsheet and unrolled it down the chimney.
Would it work? It did. Sometime after 4 a.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 17) one of the family’s Ring cameras featured little Rudy scurrying about in the back yard.
Natasha Hunter, the homeowner, described Officer Peck’s actions as a Rapunzel-like scenario. “Officer Peck was awesome – he was willing to try stuff,” Ms. Hunter said. “He said, ‘worst case scenario, we’re going to have to make a hole in your house.’”
But it never came to that, thanks to Rudy’s desire to climb out on his own.
Rudy was one of a recent litter of kittens. Riverside County Animal Services will work with Ms. Hunter to get all the kittens – and momma cat – altered to prevent any further litters.
