Punggol residents, including man who climbs out window, join forces to rescue trapped cat

It takes a village to raise a child or, in this case, a neighbourhood to save a kitten.

The feline, which had fallen onto the window ledge of a sixth-storey flat at Block 654A Punggol Drive,  was rescued on Saturday (April 6) afternoon — all thanks to the combined efforts of concerned residents.

It all started when someone sent a message to the residents' WhatsApp group chat that morning, saying that he could hear a cat meowing non-stop, but could not see it anywhere, reported Shin Min Daily News.

They later discovered that the kitten was trapped outside the window of a sixth-storey flat. 

Several residents then contacted the authorities, including the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), who suggested they approach the homeowner of the flat for assistance.

No one answered the door, though. The homeowner had reportedly gone overseas, a resident surnamed Lin told Shin Min. 

Worried that the cat may fall from the ledge, a few of the residents decided to launch their own rescue operation. It is not known if they live in the same block.

One resident living on an upper floor tied a piece of rope to a plastic basket and lowered it to where the cat is, hoping that it would jump in. However, the attempt failed.

Eventually, another resident climbed out the window of a fifth-floor unit to get the kitten.

A video uploaded to the group chat showed the man standing on the railing of the air-con ledge, and reaching for the cat. The whole process took less than a minute.

According to Shin Min, the man and another woman had approached the homeowner of the fifth-floor flat at around 1pm to ask if they could enter her home.

After the rescue, the man reportedly brought the kitten home to bathe and feed it.

Kitten likely escaped through small gap in window

Meanwhile, the kitten's owner, a resident on the seventh floor, had no clue about the dramatic rescue efforts.

The 51-year-old, who gave her name as Salina (transliteration), told Shin Min that her cat had given birth to five kittens in March, and they were kept in a locked cage that was placed at the service yard.

"On Friday, I discovered that [one of the] kittens was missing, but I couldn't find it when I went downstairs to search," Salina recalled.

"The next day, I found it [on the ledge] below. It might have escaped through a small gap in the window."

As she was rushing to work, she instructed her daughter to seek help from the sixth-floor neighbour, but the girl told her the neighbour was not home.

When Salina returned home, the kitten was no longer on the ledge. 

"I thought it was dead but I couldn't find it when I went downstairs. I didn't expect that it had been rescued by my neighbours, I'm very grateful to them."

Salina added that she does not know the whereabouts of the kitten and hopes it can be returned to her.

However, she said she would not mind that whoever has the cat wants to keep it, as she plans to put all the kittens up for adoption after they are weaned from their mother.

SPCA told Shin Min they were alerted to the case at around 10.45am on Saturday.

A spokesperson said that as SPCA did not have the proper equipment for the rescue, they directed the caller to other agencies and suggested to check if anyone was home at the sixth-floor unit.

As the caller was unable to obtain assistance from other agencies, SPCA said it would dispatch its officers to assess the situation, but was informed that a neighbour had rescued the cat before they could do so.

Cat owners are advised to install proper grills or wire mesh on windows and doors to prevent the animal from falling out.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com