Another small excerpt from my unpublished book for young and general readers. Inquiries from potential publishers welcome!
While dogs have a far better reputation when it comes to selfless and loyal behaviour, the world is not without its cat heroes.
Cat Aggie, from the US town of Laceyville, Pennsylvania got her own website after attacking an intruder into her family’s house. In upper Manhattan, a black cat called Booboo Kitty intervened to help save six people who had been held up by armed robbers and forced to strip naked. When one of the gunmen picked up the cat, it attacked him and he chased it into another room, allowing one of the victims to escape and alert police.
In November 2002, the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department in Chattanooga awarded a plaque to a cat called Mandy who woke her mistress Tammy York, allowing her to escape her burning house. Ms York said the cat started tugging on her nightgown, then “pounced on my chest and slapped (me) in the face with her paws”. Fire Chief C. R. Harris said: “We have never been on a scene where a cat has actually saved someone’s life.”
In 1996, it was reported that a New York cat named Scarlet ran into a burning repeatedly to save all of her five kittens, one by one. Even though her eyes were blistered shut by the flames, she “head-counted” each with her nose, to make sure they were all well. On the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, a six-year-old ginger cat called Runty raised the alarm when fire broke out in a cane basket left on a stove. Runty’s loud meowing alerted the owner, who called the fire brigade. Officers praised the cat, but added that they “promote smoke alarms, not cat alarms”.
It wasn’t a happy ending for Purdi, whose terrified meowing woke her mistress, Paula Downs and her brother Lloyd one morning in January 2003. The two humans escaped, but Purdi died in the blaze in the home in in Romford, England. “We tried to save her,” a firefighter at the scene said, “but it was too late.” Happily, Lucky lived up to his name when he survived a fight with a ferret that attacked a five-month-old baby in its cot in Bournemouth, England. The cat frightened-off the ferret and received only minor injuries in the stoush.
And, on another happy, semi-heroic note, a cat named Priscilla was missing for three days before being reunited with its owner, a Welshman who changed his name to Elvis Presley, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the real Elvis’s death. “I’m so glad she came home in time,” said Mr Presley, who was originally named Glyn Nedrud. “Priscilla’s return brought my smile back. I knew she would never miss my anniversary celebrations.”
References: www.laceyville.com/Aggie; New York Times, December 19, 2003; Chattanoogan.com, November 22, 2002; Associated Press/ Cincinnati Post, April 1, 1996; Paget, Dale, Cat’s meow alarm saves flat from fire, Australian Associated Press, November 13, 2003; Fire hero cat dies saving 2, The People (UK), January 19, 2003; Cat saves tot in ferret fight, Daily Record (Scotland), February 28, 2002
