CHENNAI: Cracker-crazed stray animals this Diwali scampered off the street for respite into the nearest open space. That’s counting everywhere, from living rooms to kitchens to borewells. Any place away from the noise. Unfortunately for a month-old kitten residing in Thirumullaivoyal, her hiding place took her a little too far from the fireworks — 200 feet below ground level to be exact.
The Blue Cross of India received the call around 8.40 pm on Sunday and were informed of mewing coming from the borewell of a residential backyard in the locality. “Fortunately, no bones were broken and the kitten had her claws dug into the piping. It was only a matter of pulling about 250 feet long piping out of the well,” said Dawn Williams, General Manager of the Blue Cross.
Easy enough for four grown men, as one can tell from the video of the operation recorded from the start to finish that went viral on Facebook. However, volunteers Kavin, Vigneshwar and Srikkanth, who spent time away from their own Diwali celebrations with family to save this stray kitty, also took precautionary measures such as disconnecting electrical wiring from the submerged pump below and switching off the power mains to prevent the risk of a possible electric shock.
Forty minutes later, the kitten was with her mother across the street, in a touching festive reunion. “The neighbours who feed the cat have vowed not to burst any crackers next year,” said one of the volunteers.
The video of the rescue operation has received much love from animal lovers on social media, with comments of appreciation pouring forth for these good samaritans.Who would have thought that darkness to light on Diwali would mean escaping a black borewell only to turn into a Facebook celebrity for one lucky cat?