California: Officers Save Tabby Cat Stuck in Razor Wire, 'Dangling From Tail'

CALIFORNIA -- A tabby cat found stuck in razor wire on a fence about eight feet off the ground had to be rescued by two officers Saturday.

Riverside Animal Control officers Mary Salazar and Jennifer Selter used a ladder to reach the feline that had somehow entangled himself in sharp razor wire on the top of a fence, at a business in the 1900 block of Massachusetts Avenue in Riverside.

"When I arrived, he was just hanging from his tail," Salazar said. "When I saw that, I thought it was very bad. But as I got closer, I could see him looking at me."

Local business employees gave the officers a ladder, and told them it was okay to clip the wire, according to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.

"Once they reached the cat, one officer held the cat safely while the other cut away a section of the wire," the Riverside County Department of Animal Services said in a statement. Another man helped them cut the wire also.

Both officers thought the animal might need to be put down at first because they thought it was "severely suffering," according to the statement.

"At first we didn’t see a lot of hope for it," Salazar said. "It appeared to be struggling and in a lot of pain. Once he calmed down, he was actually very nice."

She noticed that the cat was "occasionally able to stand partially on top of the fencing" on parts that were not covered with wire. Later, they saw the wire seemed to be caught mostly in the cat's tail, and that it was likely an owned animal.

When they got the cat free after about 30 minutes, one man who watched the rescue said people cheered for the officers.

"He is a good looking cat," Salazar said. "The veterinary services team really did a great job to help him pull through."

(NBC Los Angeles - Sept 19, 2016)